Overview
- Commons and Lords speakers circulated an MI5 espionage alert naming two recruiter profiles — Amanda Qiu of BR‑YR Executive Search and Shirly Shen of Internship Union — believed to be conducting outreach on behalf of China’s Ministry of State Security.
- MI5 said the activity is targeted and widespread, using LinkedIn, cover companies and headhunters to collect information and build long‑term relationships with potential sources.
- Security Minister Dan Jarvis announced a counter political interference and espionage action plan including tougher donation risk assessments, enhanced Electoral Commission powers, security campaigns and briefings for parties and candidates, and £170m for encrypted technology upgrades.
- Targets extend beyond MPs and peers to parliamentary staff, economists, think‑tank workers, geopolitical consultants, civil servants and others with access or networks around Westminster.
- The Chinese Embassy rejected the allegations as fabricated, while the alert follows the collapse of a prosecution of two men accused of spying for China that exposed legal hurdles over classifying China as a national security threat.