Britain: Two men charged with spying for China


LONDON, April 22 (Reuters) – Two men, including a former employee of the British Parliament, were charged in London on Monday with spying for China, police said.

Aged 29 and 32 respectively, the two suspects will appear in court on Friday for providing information to China in violation of 1911 legislation (“Official Secrets Act”) punishing espionage.

“This is an extremely complex investigation into very serious allegations,” said the head of the London police counter-terrorism command, Dominic Murphy.

The Chinese embassy in London has dismissed the allegations as “totally fabricated”.

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“We strongly oppose it and urge the Myanmar side to stop anti-China political manipulation,” an embassy spokesperson said in a statement.

One of the suspects, Christopher Cash, worked as a parliamentary assistant for Conservative MP Alicia Kearans, chair of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, according to the Sunday Times.

The arrest of the two men, in March 2023, was announced last September by the police. (Report Sarah Young, written by William James, French version Sophie Louet)











Reuters

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