China has accused Britain of recruiting a married couple working for the Chinese central government to spy for MI6, escalating the espionage allegations between the two countries.
China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) released a statement claiming it had recently uncovered a “major espionage case” involving MI6. According to the MSS, two significant moles “planted by the British side within our ranks” were exposed.
This accusation follows recent charges by British police against three individuals for spying for Hong Kong’s intelligence service, and charges in April against two others accused of spying for China, including a former researcher for a prominent Conservative Party lawmaker.
These charges in the United Kingdom followed China’s MSS announcement in January that it had detained the head of a foreign consultancy for allegedly spying for MI6.
Under Xi Jinping, China’s most authoritarian leader in decades, the notoriously secretive spy agency has significantly raised its public profile and expanded its scope. Once a shadowy organization with no discernible public face, the MSS has become a highly visible entity in public life.
MUST READ: Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo Secures Historic Victory: Who Is Mexico’s New President? Know All About Her
In the past six months, the MSS has frequently issued public statements about dismantling foreign spying operations. Although these claims are impossible to verify due to their nature, they portray the agency positively and serve as regular reminders for Chinese citizens to remain vigilant.
According to the MSS, Wang’s application to study in the UK under an exchange program in 2015 was “swiftly approved” due to MI6 valuing his access. While studying in Britain, Wang was allegedly invited to meals and tours organized by MI6 to assess his “character weaknesses and personal interests,” the MSS stated.
The British spy agency, upon discovering Wang’s “strong desire for money,” used an alumnus to entice him with a part-time consulting opportunity offering high remuneration, the MSS reported.
The official MSS statement said, “The British side started with open research projects and gradually moved into core internal matters of our central state agencies, paying him a fee significantly higher than normal consulting rates. Although Wang was somewhat wary of this, he continued to provide so-called ‘consulting’ services to the British side under the lure of large sums of money.”
After a while, MI6 personnel approached Wang to work for the British government with promises of higher monetary rewards and security guarantees, the MSS alleged. Wang allegedly agreed to the terms and received espionage training before he was told to return to China to gather intelligence, the statement said.
The MSS claimed that MI6 repeatedly pressured Wang to persuade his wife, who worked at a “core” government agency, to join the espionage effort, offering to double the money. Despite his initial hesitation, Wang and his wife, surnamed Zhou, eventually agreed, the MSS alleged. According to the MSS, the case is still under further investigation.
ALSO READ: Israeli Government Urges Citizens In Maldives To Depart Amid Entry Ban
