China has accused Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) of recruiting a Chinese couple working for the central government to spy for the UK. This accusation adds to the ongoing espionage tensions between China and Western countries.
The Chinese Ministry of State Security claimed that MI6 convinced a man named Wang, who had a highly confidential role in the central government, to defect along with his wife, Zhou. The Ministry posted on WeChat about this espionage case.
Under Xi Jinping, China’s most authoritarian leader in decades, the country’s notoriously secretive spy agency has drastically raised its public profile and broadened its remit. From a shadowy organization without any discernable public face, the MSS has been transformed into a highly visible presence in public life.
Ministry of State Security on MI6
Over the last six months, the MSS has made regular public declarations of dismantling foreign spying operations, claims which are impossible to verify given their nature but paint the agency in a positive light and provide regular reminders to Chinese citizens to be wary.
The Ministry of State Security (MSS) recently made its debut on social media by launching an official account on WeChat, China’s most popular app. They issued a call for “all members of society” to join the fight against foreign infiltration. Their posts, which often garner hundreds of thousands of views, are widely shared by state media.
The MSS claims that foreign spies are everywhere, infiltrating everything from mapping apps to weather stations. They have shared details of alleged espionage activities by Western spy agencies and described how Chinese nationals studying or working abroad have supposedly been recruited by the CIA.
What is MI6?
MI6, also known as the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), is the United Kingdom’s foreign intelligence agency. Established in 1909, it gathers intelligence abroad to support national security and protect UK interests. The agency conducts covert operations and analyzes foreign political, military, and economic developments. MI6 plays a crucial role in countering international threats, including espionage, terrorism, and cyber threats.
The Ministry explained that British spies began targeting Wang in 2015 when he started studying in the UK. They organized dinners and tours for him to understand his weaknesses and interests. Realizing Wang’s strong desire for money, they offered him well-paid consulting work, which involved sensitive information from central state agencies. This consulting work was better paid than any other work in the industry.
Eventually, MI6 agents revealed their identities to Wang and instructed him to return to China to gather intelligence, persuading him to involve his wife Zhou in the process.
The Investigation
Chinese authorities claim to have gathered evidence and taken decisive action against Wang. They stated that the investigation is ongoing but did not provide details about Wang and Zhou’s current jobs, the nature of the information they passed, or their current whereabouts.
Espionage accusations between China and Western countries have been frequent, but specific cases are rarely detailed publicly. Recently, British police reported the unexplained death of Matthew Trickett, who had been charged with helping Hong Kong gather intelligence in the UK.
Additionally, German authorities arrested three German Citizens suspected of spying for China, and British police charged two men with passing sensitive information to Beijing from 2021 to 2022.
These incidents highlight the growing espionage tensions between China and Western nations, with both sides accusing each other of spying activities.
