Overview
- The Crown Prosecution Service dropped the case on 15 September after months of unsuccessful efforts to obtain government witness statements confirming China was a national security threat during 2021–23.
- Prime Minister Keir Starmer argues the government could not provide retrospective designations because China was not formally classed as a threat under policy at the time of the alleged offences.
- Former cabinet secretary Simon Case noted intelligence chiefs have long publicly described China as a threat, intensifying calls for a fuller account of why such evidence was unavailable to prosecutors.
- Ministers deny political interference or withholding evidence, as critics including Tom Tugendhat and Alicia Kearns allege officials prioritized relations with Beijing over a trial.
- Reporting by The Times says key evidence was weak, including payments shown to be for translation work, claims reliant on publicly available material, and an expert disputing that a defendant had access to senior Chinese officials.