Chinese spies are trying to steal UK's nuclear submarine secrets: MI5 chief

The chief of MI5, the British spy agency, has said that China was attempting to steal UK's nuclear technology secrets and also disrupt the Aukus pact, reported The Times. Ken McCallum, the director-general of MI5 has warned that Chinese spies were trying to infiltrate the Aukus pact. It is a nuclear submarine agreement between the US, the UK and Australia.

Though the nations have not explicitly said as much, the pact is seen to be aimed at containing China's increasingly provocative actions in the Indo-Pacific region.

“If you saw the wider public Chinese reaction when the Aukus alliance was announced, you can infer from that they were not pleased," said McCallum as quoted by The Times.

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“Given everything else you know about the way in which Chinese espionage and interference is taking place, it would be safe to assume that it would be a high priority for them to understand what’s happening inside Aukus and seek to disrupt it if they were able to.”

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The Aukus pact was announced by former UK prime minister Boris Johnson in 2021. The pact will provide the nuclear-powered submarines to the Royal Australian Navy. Australia has never constructed such submarines of its own. Britain on the other hand, has operated nuclear-powered submarines for 60 years. China already has nuclear-powered submarines.

The Aukus pact also involves collaboration between the three countries on advanced technology. It has been projected that the pact will create thousands of jobs in the three countries.

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China, of late, has been making assertive moves in the Pacific Ocean region traditionally believed to be in Australia's sphere of influence. Beijing has taken serious steps to engage with Pacific Ocean island nations and has even struck deals. This has shaken the Western sphere, which has in turn, taken steps to counter Chinese moves.

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The MI5 chief along with his counterparts from security partnership for the first time sounded alarm publicly about China and its manoeuvres. The gathering took place in Silicon Valley.

McCallum warned that thousands of British businesses were vulnerable to threat from Chinese attempts to steal sensitive information. He reportedly said that around 20,000 British officials were targeted on LinkedIn and were lured to pass over military and technology secrets.

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