China's state security snags alleged UK spy. 'Huang' accused of sharing 'national secrets'
The statement from the Chinese Ministry released on Monday does not reveal the name, gender, or nationality of the arrested suspect. Nor does it specify the company under which the British agent was reportedly operating. The only known detail is that this person led a foreign consulting firm.
3:04 PM EST, January 8, 2024
The accused individual was arrested on charges of spying for the United Kingdom and is believed to have been imparting information to British MI6.
The Chinese ministry alleges that the agent, given the pseudonym "Huang," commenced cooperating with MI6 in 2015. The British agency reportedly organized multiple trips to China for Huang to undertake surveillance and gather intelligence.
The Chinese Ministry of State Security further claims that MI6 equipped Huang with training and professional spy tools enabling data collection and transmission.
The arrested suspect stands accused of providing the United Kingdom with seventeen pieces of strategic intelligence, including several "national secrets." These pieces of information were allegedly obtained during formal, consular-level meetings.
China alleges: we apprehended a British mole gathering information for MI6
CNN reports that the British embassy in Beijing is yet to receive detailed information on the case. So far, the only known information indicates that the consulting firm where the supposed British spy was discovered is not the sole business in China under scrutiny by Chinese authorities.
In May of the previous year, Chinese state security authorities announced that they were conducting raids on several offices of Capvision, an advisory network headquartered in Shanghai and New York. This announcement came shortly after Chinese officials had shut down a Beijing branch of Mintz Group, an American company specializing in corporate standards and ethics investigations, while scrutinizing employees of a local outlet of the standout consulting firm, Bain.
These actions by the Chinese services form part of a broader Beijing initiative to increase oversight on information deemed sensitive to national security.
After these Chinese inspections, Capvision stated that the inspection had been successfully conducted. The management suggested specific measures to the Chinese government to ensure regulatory compliance and thorough transparency in data collection.
China takes data security very seriously and has stringent measures to protect it. The public is consistently alerted about potential threats from the operations of foreign intelligence agencies. The agency recently urged "all members of society" through social media to join the fight against foreign espionage.
