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China dismisses claims of an agent targeting British MPs

THE Chinese foreign ministry has dismissed claims of an agent targeting British MPs, accusing the government of being “too obsessed with James Bond movies.”

MI5 claimed that London-based solicitor Christine Lee had been engaged in “political interference activities” on behalf of China’s ruling Communist Party.

Carlos Martinez, co-editor of the Friends of Socialist China platform and a No Cold War organising committee member, told the Star that the accusation “represents an escalation of the witch hunt against members of the Chinese diaspora in this country.”

He said: “There is no evidence whatsoever that Ms Lee has engaged in any illegal or inappropriate activity; she is being targeted for the sole reason that she aims to facilitate good relations between the UK and China.

“Would a security alert be raised if Ms Lee worked for the US embassy and was promoting healthy US-UK relations? Or if she worked for the French embassy and was promoting healthy France-UK relations? The very idea is absurd.

“Gerald Horne has written that the Red Scare of the 1950s was the ‘handmaiden of the cold war.’

“This updated reds-under-the-bed narrative, targeting the Chinese community in Britain, the US and Australia, is performing the same function of repressing individuals and organisations that oppose the West’s reckless new cold war.

“This is a very dangerous and undemocratic road to be travelling down.”

A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in London denied the claims, saying it always adhered to the principle of non-interference in other country’s internal affairs.

“We have no need and never seek to ‘buy influence’ in any foreign parliament. We firmly oppose the trick of smearing and intimidation against the Chinese community in the UK,” he said.

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