According to reports, China has launched cyber-attacks targeting a group of MPs and peers in Westminster.
The deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden, is expected to report the attacks to parliament on Monday.
Meanwhile, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, former Tory education minister Tim Loughton, cross-bench peer Lord Alton of Liverpool and Stewart McDonald, a Scottish National party MP, have been called on to attend a briefing from Alison Giles, parliament’s director of security.
Duncan Smith, Loughton, Alton, and McDonald belong to the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac) and are actively monitoring and examining the actions of Beijing.
According to the Sunday Times, Prime Minister David Cameron, as foreign secretary, will convene a gathering of the 1922 Committee to discuss China and security matters.
The upcoming update from China is thought to pertain to the Defending Democracy task force, a group of government officials responsible for monitoring and pinpointing possible threats and meddling in the elections and democratic processes of the UK.
During a meeting of Ipac on Friday, Luke de Pulford, the executive director, stated that a year prior, the Belgian and French foreign ministries publicly acknowledged [Chinese state] involvement in cyber attacks against our members.
Other nations have also taken similar actions in secret. China has openly expressed their intent to retaliate against foreign leaders who voice opposition to their policies.
In the previous year, a legislative assistant was detained on charges of espionage.
Chris Cash is employed as a researcher by Tory MP Alicia Kearns, who chairs the foreign affairs select committee. He also worked for the China Research Group, which was established by security minister Tom Tugendhat. Despite the accusation, Cash denies any wrongdoing.
Over the previous summer, a study by the Commons intelligence and security committee (ISC) declared that China had been actively and aggressively seeking to exploit the UK and had effectively infiltrated all areas of the UK’s economy.
Source: theguardian.com
