China has claimed Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service MI6, the headquarters of which are on the banks of the River Thames in London, “turned” two Chinese central government workers to spy on Beijing in what it said was “a major espionage” case. File Photo by Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA
Beijing has claimed Britain’s foreign intelligence service “turned” two Chinese central government workers to spy on China in what it said was “a major espionage” case.
MI6 operatives recruited and trained Wang Moumou and Zhou Mou, a married Chinese couple both employed in “core confidential” government departments, the Chinese Ministry of State Security alleged in a post on official state social media late Sunday. Advertisement
The British secret intelligence service first approached Wang on an unnamed British university campus in 2015 after he arrived on an exchange study program, posing as alumni and hiring him as a paid consultant and began a grooming process.
The spy agency had allegedly previously targeted him after seeing his name among program applicants and intervening to get his application expedited.
“The British side began with open research projects and gradually delved into the core affairs of the central government, paying significantly higher than normal consulting fees. Although Wang Moumou grew suspicious, he continued to provide ‘consultation’ services to the British due to the substantial monetary temptation,” the ministry claimed. Advertisement
In addition to financial reward, MI6 is alleged to have wined, dined and provided tours to Wang who for his part, the ministry said, was motivated by greed.
MI6 eventually came clean and persuaded him to defect, promising substantial financial rewards and guaranteeing his security after which Wang received “espionage training” and was instructed to return to China to gather “significant intelligence,” the ministry said.
Wang also eventually caved into sustained pressure and cajoling to recruit his wife — who also held a “crucial and sensitive” government post — induced by an offer to double the money he was receiving.
The ministry claims that urged on by Wang, Zhou Mou, also agreed to spy for Britain
The pair were discovered after a meticulous investigation by the ministry which said it had interrogated them, “uprooting and important mole planted by the British within the organization.”
British authorities did not immediately offer comment.
The news comes amid a spate of tit-for-tat spying accusations between Beijing and Britain and other Western countries.
In April, Christopher Berry, 32, from Oxfordshire, and Christopher Cash, 29, from London, were charged with offenses related to spying for China under the Official Secrets Act, while German authorities made three arrests. Advertisement
The three German nationals were detained on suspicion of restricted military technology information to Chinese authorities.
In May, the office manager of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London, the territory’s de facto embassy, a border official at Heathrow Airport, and a Home Office official were bailed under strict conditions after being charged with working for Hong Kong intelligence after allegedly trying to break into the home of a Hong Kong dissident living in Britain.
Two days later on May 19, the immigration official, Matthew Trickett, 37, was found dead in a park in the town where he lived, west of London.
The arrests drew a storm of protest from Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee and the Chinese Embassy in London which dismissed the case as an unwarranted “malicious fabrication.”
Beijing used similar language to condemn the allegations involving Berry and Cash calling them a “malicious slander.”
