MI5 Warns of Chinese Spy Threat to Academics

MI5 has issued an unprecedented public warning about a

new Chinese spy threat targeting British academics.

The Security Service says a Chinese institute is secretly

trying to exploit the expertise of universities and other

research bodies to help Beijing build more powerful

espionage tools. In a highly unusual alert, it

strongly advises everyone involved in UK academia to

cut ties with this company or risk criminal charges under

national security legislation. Here is the Security

Service espionage alert. It's short and blunt.

MI5 says it's discovered that an entity known as the China General

Technology Research Institute has, quote, "Very strong ties

with the Ministry of State Security." That's China's powerful

civilian intelligence and security service.

The warning says the UK has identified that the primary

purpose of the institute is to fund academic

research that directly improves China's technical

capability for espionage. While no one is named,

the Security Service says it has identified more than

100 UK-linked academics who have contributed to

projects funded by this company, though it says in some cases the

source of the money may not have been known.

The kind of collaborative projects that have rung alarm bells include

research into AI, cybersecurity, covert

communication systems, and steganography, which, and I

did have to look this up, is the practice of hiding an image

or a file

inside something that isn't secret.

MI5 warned this kind of activity supports Chinese

espionage, which poses a threat to UK national

security. Academics are being advised to terminate any

projects with this Chinese institute and to check the source of any other

research funding from China, underlining the seriousness of the

threat. Dan Jarvis, the Security Minister, has even

written to all university vice chancellors to request their

help. He said, "This alert exposes attempts

by Chinese intelligence to covertly benefit from the

expertise and research of our academics, undermining our

national security and that of our allies.

International partnerships are vital to ensure our

universities and research institutes continue to thrive,

but we will take robust action to defend against the threats we

face." China's embassy in the UK is being approached for

comment, but in the past, it has denied allegations of

espionage.