Spy Games: How a top researcher and a teacher spied for China inside the UK parliament

Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry were arrested in March 2023, accused of being Chinese spies. Now, over a year later, the two have been formally charged with espionage. Their appearance at the Westminster Magistrates’ Court is slated to take place on Friday.

Cash had allegedly infiltrated the UK Parliament.

We explain how Cash did this, and look at how a similar pattern of Chinese espionage all across Europe.

Infiltrating from within

Cash, a parliamentary researcher, and Berry, an academic, were apprehended as part of an operation probing into their activities linked to Chinese espionage on March 13, 2023. Since then, he has been under scrutiny by the Metropolitan Police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Now, Cash has been charged under the Official Secrets Act for purportedly providing sensitive information to a foreign state, China. How exactly Cash spied for China is unclear.

Cash used to work at China Research Group (CRG), which describes itself as “a group set up by UK MPs to promote fresh thinking about how Britain should respond to the rise of China. The CRG was initially chaired by Tom Tugendhat, currently the Minister of State for Security in the UK, and then by Alicia Kearns.

Kearns, a Conservative who serves as the foreign affairs committee chair, employed Cash as a researcher. Through this position, he gained significant access within parliamentary circles (including close access to Tugendhat).

Although Cash (and Berry) did not have security clearances, they both possessed parliamentary passes. Cash has been accused of of “obtaining, collecting, recording, publishing, or communicating” materials from January 20, 2022, to February 3, 2023, that could be beneficial to a foreign adversary.

Nick Price, head of the CPS’s special crime and counter-terrorism division, emphasised the gravity and complexity of the case, noting the close collaboration between law enforcement and the CPS as they worked to unravel the extent of the espionage activities.

Similar Chinese espionage tactics is Europe

The allegations against Cash and Berry fit a broader pattern of Chinese espionage tactics in Europe, often involving individuals getting close to right-wing, especially far-right political entities, to either influence policy or gather critical intelligence.

Earlier this week, in Germany, a similar case emerged with the arrest of Jian G., accused of relaying information from European Union legislative discussions to Chinese intelligence. Jian G. was associated with Maximilian Krah, a lead candidate of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

The party, which has a reputation for being pro-China and pro-Russia. Due to this, the AfD has come under fire. One reason why Germany is a focus of Russian and Chinese spying is “the existence of a right-wing extremist party … that is prepared eagerly to take up every narrative from China and Russia and spread it,” AP cited Konstantin Kuhle of the Free Democrats, one of the parties in the coalition government, as saying.

In December last year, Belgian authorities had also voiced concerns, with Prime Minister Alexandre de Croo labelling China as “sometimes very hostile.” Belgium’s focus came after allegations that Frank Creyelman, a member of the far-right Vlaams Belang, had been recruited by Chinese intelligence to influence European discourse on sensitive topics like Hong Kong and the Uyghurs.

According to an investigation by media outlets like Financial Times, Daniel Woo, an officer in the Chinese Ministry of State Security, persuaded Creyelman to persuade two right-wing members of the European Parliament to publicly accuse the US and UK of undermining European energy security.

So far, why the Chinese are allegedly targeting right-wing parties and members for spying and influencing remains unknown.

The mounting espionage threat

The pattern of espionage activities linked to China has caused unease across Western Europe, with intelligence agencies sounding alarms over increased state-backed hacking and covert operations. As Western nations grapple with these espionage threats, the spotlight intensifies on the safeguards within their political and security frameworks to counteract such infiltrations effectively.

There is much public interest around Cash and Berry ahead of their day in court. In the meanwhile, their case, and others like them, remind governments across Europe about the broad reach of the Chinese espionage network. Apart from this, perhaps a look at domestic political vulnerabilities and the robustness of counter-espionage measure is also overdue in these places.

With inputs from agencies