Chinese flag at Lujiazui financial district in Pudong, Shanghai, China, September 18, 2023.
Raul Ariano | Bloomberg | Getty Images
China’s Ministry of State Security claimed in a statement on Monday that Britain’s secret intelligence service, MI6, had framed two Chinese central government officials as spies for the British government.
The ministry said the case against the two spies, who are a husband and wife, was under further investigation.
China and Britain have been trading accusations for months about espionage that threaten their respective national security.
In January, China revealed a spy case alleging that MI6 had used foreigners in China to collect secrets and intelligence.
Britain charged two people in April with providing damaging information to China, and last month charged three people in Britain with aiding Hong Kong’s foreign intelligence services.
China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the spy, surnamed Wang, studied in the UK on an exchange programme in 2015 and was invited to dinners and tours secretly arranged by MI6 during that time.
Wang was said to have been “money-hungry” and was offered a highly paid part-time consultancy job, but MI6 officers then approached him about serving the British government, promising even greater financial compensation and security, and he agreed.
After his spy training, MI6 ordered Wang to return to China to gather vital intelligence about the Chinese government.
According to the ministry, MI6 persuaded Wang to hand over his wife, who worked for a key government agency, for double the amount. Zhou, surnamed Wang, eventually agreed.
