Judges upheld M15 alert on alleged Chinese agent
Senior judges have upheld MI5’s findings that an alleged Chinese agent had infiltrated Parliament and funded a Labor MP and others.
In a highly significant ruling, the Investigative Powers Tribunal (IPT) ruled that the security service had acted under the law when it described Christine Lee as a threat to national security in an “intervention alert” distributed to MPs and as a result made public .
The IPT said naming Ms Lee was “necessary in a democratic society” and was “a proportionate response to the threat she poses”.
A January 2022 alert warned that Christine Ching Kui Lee had established ties to current and aspiring lawmakers for the Chinese Communist Party.
The alert also said he had organized donations to politicians.
The IPT’s decision, the second in as many days, underlines the scale of suspected Chinese state intrusion into British territory.
It comes hours after Yang Tengbo was named as the businessman who was said in a separate court ruling last week to have won an unusual level of trust from Prince Andrew.
Neither Ms Li nor Mr Yang are facing prosecution on separate charges brought against them and both have denied wrongdoing.
Ms Lee, a lawyer, said her participation in Parliament was to “represent Britain’s Chinese people and enhance diversity”.
But MI5 alert to MPs Said that she “knowingly engaged in political interference and activities on behalf of the United Front Work Department (UFWD) of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)”.
The UFWD is a branch of the CCP’s intelligence network that attempts mass influence and poverty intervention in British society by targeting people ranging from politicians to business and academia figures.
Ms Lee’s alleged work for the UFWD included facilitating financial donations to political parties, MPs and aspiring MPs – donations which came from sources in China and Hong Kong.
One of the MPs funded by Ms Lee was Labour’s Barry Gardiner, who received more than £420,000 from her over five years.
He hired Ms. Lee’s son, Daniel Wilkes, until the alert surfaced.
Mr Gardiner said he had always been aware of the donations to the security services.
After the alert was issued, Mr Gardiner dismissed Mr Wilkes from his office staff. The pair later reached an out-of-court settlement.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey also received a £5,000 donation while Energy Secretary – but said the money was accepted by his local union and he was made aware of concerns “at the first instance”.
In Tuesday’s decision, the IPT rejected claims by Ms Lee and Mr Wilkes that their rights were violated by MI5.
Lord Justice Singh and two other members of the IPT panel said the interference with Ms Lee’s private life by publicizing her name did not violate her human rights.
“There is no positive obligation on the State to take action to stop the behavior of other people, particularly the media and private individuals, who had previously sent abusive messages to the Claimant (Ms Lee),” the IPT said.
“The defendant (MI5) had no particular control over the activities of the media or other third parties.
“The defendant was entitled to issue the interference warning, and indeed had an obligation to do so in order to fulfill its statutory function of protecting parliamentary democracy.
“There is no evidence that the abusive messages and social media commentary directed at or received by (Ms Lee) represented a real and ongoing threat to her safety and, even if they did, this There is no evidence that the police or other state authorities are unable or unwilling to provide (him) with appropriate protection.
“The decision to issue the interference warning did not interfere with his right to respect for his private life.”
