Chinese spies target democracies

Startling revelations showing an alleged Chinese spy was able to access Britain’s parliament at will for 18 months, without security vetting, should sound alarm bells in other democracies, including our own, about the threat posed by Beijing’s espionage skulduggery. The alleged spy, Chris Cash, 28, apparently enjoyed free rein to roam the corridors of the Palace of Westminster while working for the China Research Group, a body claimed to be a think tank set up by Conservative MPs, including Security Minister Tom Tugendhat.

Mr Cash, who was arrested in March, has denied allegations he was feeding key information to Chinese officials. But the extraordinarily high priority British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak gave what he termed Beijing’s “unacceptable … interference in our parliamentary democracy” when he met Chinese Premier Li Qiang at this month’s G20 summit in New Delhi leaves no doubt about the gravity of the security issues surrounding Mr Cash’s arrest and the claims of concerted Chinese espionage aimed at subverting Western democracies.

Such issues are relevant to Australia. As Liberal frontbencher Senator James Paterson said, the likelihood of a Chinese spy seeking to undermine Australia’s political processes is “very high … because the vast majority of staff who work in Parliament House are not security vetted or cleared in any way”. The British parliament is not the first institution targeted by Beijing. Early this month the Canadian government launched an inquiry into foreign election interference, triggered by reports China tried to get friendly candidates elected in 2019 and 2021. Ottawa also alleged that this year a Chinese diplomat was part of a plan to intimidate a Canadian politician.

A separate report also has revealed Britain’s domestic intelligence agency, MI5, warned the Conservative Party in 2021 and last year about two prospective parliamentary candidates who allegedly had links to Beijing’s United Front Work Department, a Chinese Communist Party body engaged in influence operations abroad. The full extent of the allegations against Mr Cash has yet to be disclosed. But the free rein that enabled him to wander around the British parliament without security clearance is a warning to those in charge of other democratic parliaments.