MI5 warns UK academics to cut ties with Chinese group over alleged spying

What the report says

Britain’s domestic intelligence agency MI5 has issued a rare public warning telling UK academics to stop working with a Chinese organisation it says is linked closely to Beijing’s Ministry of State Security. According to Al Jazeera’s reporting, MI5 accused the China General Technology Research Institute (CGTRI) of funding university research in ways that could strengthen China’s espionage capabilities.

The agency said the group had targeted more than 100 UK-based researchers in fields including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, covert communications systems and steganography. MI5 said some universities and academics may have engaged with the institute in good faith, but it warned that anyone continuing to accept grants from or collaborate with CGTRI could face prosecution under Britain’s National Security Act, which expanded powers against foreign espionage and hostile state activity.

UK Security Minister Dan Jarvis said he had written to university leaders asking them to ensure staff end any relationship with the group. He said the warning showed efforts by Chinese intelligence to quietly use academic expertise in ways that could harm British security and that of allies. The government has tried to balance improved trade relations with China against repeated concerns about spying and influence operations.

China’s London embassy rejected the allegation, calling it fabricated and malicious slander, according to the article. More broadly, the report fits a pattern of UK and allied warnings in recent years about Chinese intelligence activity targeting researchers, lawmakers and other professionals.