【Text by Observers Net, Liu Bai】 Occasionally, some British politicians stir up the so-called "Chinese spy" script, as if suffering from a "Sinophobia" hallucination.

Not long ago, the British intelligence agencies updated their series, claiming that Chinese intelligence personnel have disguised themselves as "headhunting companies" to contact British MPs and other individuals to collect intelligence. A series of absurd accusations were immediately strongly refuted by China.

According to a report by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on November 19, British Security Minister Dan Jarvis claimed that after MI5 warned MPs about the "Chinese spy" risk, the government would not tolerate any "secret and deliberate" attempts to interfere with Britain's sovereignty.

According to some intelligence officials, they confirmed two "China-controlled" LinkedIn accounts, which operated under the guise of "civilian recruitment headhunters," targeting British political figures to obtain "internal information."

Other activities described in the MI5 alert include "trips to China paid for by the Chinese side, as well as payment for intelligence through cash or cryptocurrencies."

The targeted individuals are said to include "parliamentary staff, economists, think tank employees, geopolitical advisors, and people who work with the government, including MPs and members of the House of Lords."

British Security Minister Dan Jarvis

On the 18th, Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons, and Michael Forsyth, the Speaker of the House of Lords, forwarded MI5's warning to MPs.

Hoyle exaggerated, stating that these two accounts indicate that China is conducting a "large-scale outreach," attempting to "relentlessly interfere with our procedures and influence parliamentary activities."

Jarvis echoed this, saying that "all necessary measures" should be taken to respond, despite China being the UK's third-largest trading partner, the UK will still "take sanctions when necessary."

BBC said it had contacted the two accounts for responses, but it remains unclear whether the names and photos displayed on the social media platform belong to the actual account holders.

Neil O'Brien, a British Conservative MP known for his criticism of China, had a researcher named Simon Whilband claim that he had received contact from one of the accounts, with a message containing a job invitation.

Whilband took it seriously, saying that the incident made him "deeply uneasy."

"It made me a little nervous, but I wasn't surprised," he said. "I've been involved in parliamentary affairs for about 10 years, and I've seen such things before."

"But for someone with less experience, they may not know what to be cautious about. They might think it's a genuine job offer from LinkedIn and accept it."

On November 18, the Chinese Embassy in the UK responded to questions about the UK's炒作 of the so-called "Chinese spy threat," emphasizing that the UK's statements were entirely baseless fabrications and malicious defamation. We strongly condemn this and have raised serious protests with the UK. We urge the UK to immediately stop this self-created, self-promoting, and hypocritical trickery, and not to go further down the wrong path of damaging Sino-British relations.

In fact, the UK's baseless rhetoric is nothing new. Just in September, the UK prosecutors announced the dismissal of charges against two British men accused of being "Chinese spies" in 2023, and both were released without charge.

The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) later revealed in a letter that the agency had repeatedly asked the government to provide evidence to prove that China posed a "threat" to UK national security, but all requests were rejected. This attitude of the government was the key reason for CPS's decision to dismiss the charges against the two British men.

This month, British media also revealed that the UK government is investigating hundreds of Chinese-made electric buses for potential remote shutdown risks. However, the relevant allegations have been strongly refuted by Chinese enterprises.

The Western portrayal of the "Chinese threat" has formed a near-reflexive discourse system, which exposes their own psychological imbalance in the face of competition.

When former US Commerce Secretary Raimondo promoted the "Chinese threat theory," she greatly exaggerated a sensational scenario - if there were 3 million Chinese cars on American roads, Beijing could shut them all down at once.

At the time, Hua Chunying, then Assistant Minister and Spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, summarized with a famous quote from American renowned social psychologist Abraham Maslow: "If your only tool is a hammer, then every problem looks like a nail."

This sentence is equally applicable to some British politicians.

This article is an exclusive contribution by Observers Net. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7574285665027605007/

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