British authorities have charged two British nationals, including a parliamentary researcher, with spying for China, just as German authorities have arrested three German nationals on similar charges, according to a statement and report released Monday. .
“Crown Prosecution Service” [CPS] “The Counter-Terrorism Unit has today given the Metropolitan Police the power to prosecute two men for espionage,” said Nick Price, head of the UK CPS’ Special Crime and Counter-Terrorism Unit. announced on Monday. “Christopher Berry, 32, and Christopher Cash, 29, will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday, April 26, charged with providing information detrimental to a foreign country, China. It’s planned.”
Mr Cash worked as a research associate for Conservative Foreign Affairs Select Committee Chair Alicia Kearns. report. Mr. Kearns said he was elected to the position in October 2022. parliamentary statement Said.
Both suspects are suspected of “obtaining, collecting, recording, publishing or transmitting” certain information that could potentially be “useful to the enemy” in breach of the UK’s Official Secrets Act, Price said in a statement. It became clear.
According to the statement, Berry allegedly committed the acts from December 28, 2021 to February 3, 2023, and Cash committed the acts from January 20, 2022 to February 3, 2023. The Metropolitan Police (MP) reported that both men were arrested on March 13, 2023. Member’s statement. The investigation, carried out in conjunction with the CPS, was “very complex”, Counter Terrorism Command Commander Dominic Murphy said in a police statement. (Related: Two suspected Russian spies arrested in NATO member country, suspected of planning attacks on U.S. forces and other facilities)
The cash was accessible to Britain’s security minister, Tom Tugendhat, The Sunday Times report. He was also involved in the China Research Group. according to British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The China Research Group, a think tank set up by a group of British Conservative politicians, aims to “promote debate and new thinking about how the UK should respond to the rise of China” , the paper says. its website.Mr Tugendhat is co-founder of the Guardian Newspaper Group report.
“Because this matter is now before the judiciary, it is important that neither I nor anyone else say anything that could prejudice a criminal trial related to matters of national security,” Kearns said. he said. responded on Monday. “I have no further comment.”
Germany has arrested three people on suspicion of trying to steal “particularly sensitive” military technology and spying for China, a minister announced.
British police also arrested two suspected Chinese spies.read more: https://t.co/n67PtIiWr2
— Globalnews.ca (@globalnews) April 22, 2024
According to the Guardian, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in the UK denounced “claims that China is suspected of ‘stealing British information'” as “nothing more than a completely fabricated and malicious slander”. The spokesperson reportedly accused the UK of engaging in “anti-China political manipulation” and staging a “self-made political farce”.
Meanwhile, the German Federal Criminal Police (BKA) arrested three suspects in Düsseldorf and Bad Homburg on suspicion of espionage: Herwig F., Ina F. and the main suspect, Thomas R. That period was “a period that cannot be accurately determined before June.” 2022” according to Deutsche Welle (DW).
Thomas R. is said to have been an operative for the Chinese secret service MSS, the newspaper reported. According to the newspaper, he allegedly used two other suspects to gather information about sensitive military technology.
The couple reportedly run a company that allegedly agreed to contracts with researchers and scientists from German universities on behalf of Chinese companies. The contract was for a project allegedly funded by the Chinese government to produce high-grade mechanical parts for use in powerful combat ships, the newspaper reported. This action reportedly violates Germany’s Foreign Trade and Payments Act.
According to the report, prosecutors said one of the three suspects also used funds from MSS to obtain lasers in Germany and export them to China in violation of the European Union’s dual-use regulations. .
Last week, German authorities arrested two German-Russians on suspicion of spying on U.S. military bases and other locations in Russia.Polish authorities also arrested a man named Pawel K. for allegedly intending to pass security information on a U.S. military-controlled airport to Russian intelligence as part of a plot to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Associated Press report.
