【By Observer Net, Xiong Chaoran】Recently, a two-year-long "Chinese spy" incident has finally come to an end — the prosecution dropped the charges due to insufficient evidence. However, Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the British House of Commons, is still eager to stir up controversy and has once again come forward.

On September 19 local time, Hoyle told The Times that the decision to drop the charges actually gave China a "license" to operate within the British Parliament, making it vulnerable to attacks from "foreign forces." "As Speaker, I take the security of the House extremely seriously, and I believe this opens the door for foreign forces attempting to monitor the Parliament," he said, adding: "This door must be tightly sealed. We must take all means to ensure the safety of MPs and staff of the House of Commons. Such behavior cannot be tolerated at all."

According to The Guardian, on September 20 local time, before making these remarks, Hoyle had also stated that he was "very unhappy" upon learning that the case would not proceed further.

"Given the extremely important issues raised by this case, I request officials to consider whether any further actions, strategies, or legal measures should be taken to ensure that all personnel working in the Parliament can work safely and without interference," he claimed. "As Speaker, I am very dissatisfied with what has happened. The fact is, two years have passed, and only today did someone finally withdraw the case. This is bad, or rather, not good enough."

Previously, the Chinese side had clearly stated that the claim that China was involved in "spying on British intelligence" was completely baseless, malicious defamation, and we firmly opposed it.

Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the British House of Commons, photo

On September 15 local time, due to insufficient evidence, the British prosecutors announced the withdrawal of the charges against two British men accused of being "Chinese spies" in 2023, and they were released without charge. BBC introduced that the two men are Christopher Cash, 30 years old, and Christopher Berry, 33 years old.

The prosecutor in charge of the case, Tom Little, told the court that the collected evidence did not meet the threshold for trial, "we could not continue to prosecute the case at all." Judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said she "fully agreed" with the prosecution's decision and ruled the two men not guilty.

Nevertheless, the UK Home Office still issued a statement insisting, "given the seriousness of the charges, we cannot accept the disappointment of the trial." The statement also said, "we will continue to use various tools and powers to prevent malicious activities."

The spokesperson for the UK Prime Minister's office echoed this, saying that the withdrawal of charges was "extremely disappointing," these charges raised "serious concerns," and "any attempt by foreign forces to infiltrate is unacceptable."

The Guardian reported that not only Hoyle, but also Stephen Parkinson, the Director of Public Prosecutions of the UK, also claimed that he, like many MPs and the public, felt disappointed and even upset about the termination of the case. He also reiterated that his leadership, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), had determined that the case must stop because of "insufficient evidence."

Parson wrote in a letter: "Although I cannot elaborate on the reasons for our decision, I think it is necessary to emphasize two points stated in court, which were not emphasized in all media outlets."

"Firstly, Prosecutor Little informed the court that after reviewing the case, we concluded that the case could not continue because the evidence no longer met the evidentiary test (the evidentiary test requires a real possibility of conviction)." He added: "Therefore, the reason for the case having to be stopped is the lack of evidence. I must reiterate that when making the decision to prosecute, I believed the correct conclusion was that there was enough evidence to bring charges."

According to reports, Cash and Berry were arrested by UK authorities in March 2023 and formally charged in April 2024. The prosecutors accused them of collecting and providing information damaging to British national security and interests to China between December 28, 2021, and February 3, 2023, violating the Official Secrets Act. They were originally scheduled to be tried at Woolwich Criminal Court starting October 6, but both denied all the charges.

Christopher Cash (left) and Christopher Berry (right), photo

From the disclosed information, the two were possibly accused due to their work related to China.

Cash was a parliamentary researcher and served as director of the "China Research Group" (CRG), who had contact with multiple Conservative MPs. Notably, this group, under the guise of "studying China," frequently spread anti-China rhetoric, and is notorious. Berry taught in China and introduced some tourist attractions in China on social platforms.

On September 15 local time, after the London Central Criminal Court decided to terminate the legal proceedings, Cash said outside the court that he was "relieved that justice was done." He said that the past two years since his arrest were like "a nightmare," and expressed hope that people could learn lessons from this "regrettable incident."

Cash's lawyer Henry Blaxland said that even his colleagues were surprised by these charges. "We just hope he can rebuild his life."

In fact, the farce orchestrated by the UK ultimately ended with insufficient evidence, which exposed the so-called "Chinese spy threat" as a carefully fabricated lie for political purposes.

When the UK炒作 this case in 2023, the spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in the UK had already pointed out that the claim that China was involved in "spying on British intelligence" was completely baseless and malicious defamation, and we firmly opposed it. We urged the relevant UK authorities to stop political maneuvering against China and stop this self-directed political farce.

But until now, the UK is still manipulating the issue. In June this year, the UK government claimed that Chinese "espionage activities" in the UK had increased, and then the then Foreign Secretary Lambo announced in parliament that the current government would invest 800 million dollars to investigate this matter.

At the regular press conference on June 25, Gao Jikun, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, emphasized that China and the UK are both permanent members of the UN Security Council and major world economies, and developing bilateral relations and strengthening mutual benefit cooperation is in the interest of both countries and the world. I want to emphasize that China adheres to the path of peaceful development, does not threaten any country, and does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. China is willing to develop Sino-British relations on the basis of mutual respect and proper handling of differences, but we will not accept any slander and groundless accusations.

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