The UK should set up a “foreign interference” watchdog to help combat espionage and influence operations by hostile countries such as China, a report from the Conservative party’s Sino-British relations group has urged.
The recommendation comes in a paper by Charles Parton, a former diplomat and China expert, on resetting the UK’s strategy towards Beijing against a backdrop of growing security concerns.
Ken McCallum, MI5’s director-general, warned in October that the threat from hostile states was rising, and that while Chinese spies typically targeted commercially sensitive data and intellectual property, his agency had also detected attempts by Beijing to influence European politics.