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LONDON — Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told British lawmakers Monday that they were “rightly appalled” at the notion of “espionage in this building,” after news reports that a young researcher in the House of Commons had been arrested on suspicion of spying for China.
Sunak said he had confronted Chinese Premier Li Qiang on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in India on Sunday and was “emphatic … that actions which seek to undermine British democracy are completely unacceptable and will never be tolerated.”
But the British prime minister faced questions from the House of Commons about what he knew, and when, about the arrest and why his government remained reluctant to label China a threat.
Keir Starmer, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, pressed Sunak to say when the government first challenged China on the matter: In March, when the Metropolitan Police carried out the arrest under the Official Secrets Act? Or only now, after the embarrassing news broke?
Lawmakers from Sunak’s party appeared to be the most angry about a possible security breach, asking why they had to learn of the arrests first in a newspaper.
The accused researcher, who had worked directly with top lawmakers in the Conservative Party in government, said through his lawyers, “I am completely innocent.”
Police said the man, who is in his 20s, was arrested in Edinburgh, Scotland, while a second man, in his 30s, was arrested in Oxfordshire, England. Authorities have not released the names of the suspects, as neither has been charged. Both were released on bail until October and are being investigated by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, which oversees espionage inquiries.
For its part, China called the allegations “completely fabricated.”
“We urge the U.K. to stop spreading false information, anti-China political manipulation and malicious slander,” said Mao Ning, spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The arrests were reported over the weekend by the Sunday Times of London, which said the researcher had worked for Alicia Kearns, chair of the powerful Foreign Affairs Committee, and her predecessor, Tom Tugendhat, now security minister. It was unknown what the suspect’s security clearance was or what kinds of documents he had access to.
The British law firm Birnberg Peirce issued a statement Monday on his behalf.
“I feel forced to respond to the media accusations that I am a ‘Chinese spy,’” the statement said. “It is wrong that I should be obliged to make any form of public comment on the misreporting that has taken place.”
He continued: “It is vital that it is known that I am completely innocent. I have spent my career to date trying to educate others about the challenge and threats presented by the Chinese Communist Party. To do what has been claimed against me in extravagant news reporting would be against everything I stand for.”
In Parliament, Speaker of the House of Commons Lindsay Hoyle confirmed the two March arrests and reported that a limited number of people were “immediately briefed on a strictly confidential basis.”
Hoyle said: “This is an ongoing, sensitive investigation. Members of course understand that public discussion will be wholly inappropriate.”
Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, told the Commons that the arrested men were facing “serious allegations, and it is right they are being investigated.”
Pressed on what Britain was doing to protect its secrets, the deputy prime minister noted that it had banned Chinese IT companies from government offices, and TikTok from government computers and mobile phones.
Earlier, the government banned Chinese tech giant Huawei from Britain’s 5G networks.
Multiple lawmakers argued that the spying allegations should support a harder line against China.
“These are extremely worrying reports about the level of infiltration of Chinese-supported forces into our democracy,” said Liz Truss, who served 49 days as prime minister last year and remains a Conservative lawmaker in Parliament.
She asked why the government would not recognize China as “the largest threat, both to the world and to the United Kingdom, for freedom and democracy?”
In a briefing with reporters Monday, Sunak’s official spokesman maintained that this government is “always very clear-eyed about the risks” presented by China.
“They do represent an epoch-defining challenge to the U.K. We do not think it is right to reduce the approach to just one word given we need to take the opportunity to engage with China, not to just shout from the sideline,” said the spokesman, who by tradition is not named.
Olivia O’Sullivan, a scholar at the Chatham House think tank, said she wasn’t surprised that China would be determined to exert influence “by cultivating people earlier in their career.”
“One of the broader challenges the U.K. faces is there are a range of ways China seeks influence, including in sectors of society — such as higher education, research and industry — less traditionally associated with national security,” she said.
Alex Younger, the former head of the British intelligence agency MI6, told BBC radio, “I tend to switch off when I hear: ‘It’s a threat, isn’t a threat. We should call it a threat, we shouldn’t call it a threat.’”
He said the answer to China cannot be contained in one word.
“We need to, geopolitically, be capable of chewing gum and walking at the same time,” he said — engaging with China, competing with China, “and sometimes we need to confront China. In my experience, just being nice to them doesn’t get you very far.”
Christian Shepherd in Taipei contributed to this report.
