MI5 alert over Chinese agent with Westminster links

A comprehensive review is to be held into how a suspected Chinese agent was able to get so close to senior British politicians, the security minister, Damian Hinds, has said. MI5, the domestic intelligence agency, took the unusual step last week of circulating a warning to MPs accusing Christine Lee – a prominent London-based solicitor – of being engaged in “political interference activities” on behalf of China’s ruling communist regime.

The Chinese embassy rejected the claims, accusing the authorities of “smearing and intimidation” against the Chinese community in the UK, while a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said the British were “too obsessed with James Bond 007 movies”.

However, Hinds said the security services had been aware of the activities of Lee –pictured below with former prime minister David Cameron in 2015 – including channelling funds to British politicians in an attempt to secure influence – for “some time”. The Times had reported on her activities in 2017, including her extensive payments to the office of Barry Gardiner, then the shadow energy minister.

Lee donated £584,177 (around $800,000) to the office of Gardiner. The Labour MP said he had liaised with the security services for many years regarding his contacts with Lee but had only learned last Thursday that she had been engaged in “illegal activity”. Lee’s son was employed as his diary manager, but quit his job in the wake of the revelations.