Description: UK’s internal security and intelligence service, the MI5, warned British research institutes of increased espionage attempts by the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS). MI5’s warning concerned one of the leading Chinese research institutes in the UK, the China General Technology Research Institute (CGTRI) which was used by the Chinese government as a proxy for information gathering. CGTRI reportedly founded front companies through which financed British academics and research fellows in areas of cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, covert communication systems and steganography. The MI5 also stated that any continued efforts to collaborate with the institute would lead to criminal charges for endangering the UK’s national security. The Chinese spokesperson for China’s embassy in London quickly denounced the accusations stating that they were based on falsehoods and undermined close cooperation efforts between the two countries.
Impact: MI5’s public warning is likely the result of substantially increased intelligence activities from the MSS. The warning is likely to increase diplomatic tensions and potentially deteriorate trade relations, since China is known to use trade weaponization as a diplomatic pressure weapon and coercion. MI5 and other UK security and intelligence agencies are highly likely to increase counterintelligence operations in the short to mid – term period across British universities and research institutes which have evidently become a fertile ground for the Chinese MSS. The UK government is likely to instigate policy measures which could limit foreign access to British fields of strategic interest and enhance due diligence in international cooperation initiatives. China is unlikely to decrease its intelligence activities, instead it would likely sophisticate cooperation programs used for gathering intelligence and build a more complex corporate structure behind organizations supported by the MSS.