Overview

• Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson told MPs the CPS sought for months, without success, witness statements that China was a national security threat at the time, leading prosecutors to drop the case on 15 September.
• No. 10 rejects claims of interference and argues evidence had to reflect the previous government’s stance that described China as a challenge rather than an enemy.
• Reports say senior officials, including National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell and Sir Oliver Robbins, discussed the case shortly before it ended, and Downing Street has confirmed Powell will face a private session with the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy.
• Parkinson cited a 2024 High Court judgment redefining an “enemy” as a state posing a contemporaneous threat, while parts of the 1911 Official Secrets Act have since been superseded by the National Security Act for future prosecutions.
• Both defendants deny wrongdoing and the Chinese Embassy has called the allegations fabricated, as MPs press for explanations and the CPS defends its original decision to charge under the law as it then stood.