What is known about alleged 'Chinese spy' Chris Cash, a UK parliamentary researcher?

A British parliamentary researcher wasarrested on suspicion of being a ‘Chinese spy’ in March this year. The researcher was named on Sunday night by The Sunday Times as Chris Cash, a 28-year-old history graduate who reportedly has links with many Tory MPs.

Police confirmed Sunday a man in his twenties, and a second in his thirties had been arrested on suspicion of espionage offences in March. The man in his twenties is reported to be a Commons passholder, who has been linked to a number of senior Tory MPs.

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Who is Chris Cash, the ‘suspected’ Chinese spy?

As per reports, Chris is a researcher in Britain’s parliament and had been seen rubbing elbows with senior Tories, including security minister Tom Tugendhat and Foreign Affairs Committee chair Alicia Kearns. He was arrested back in March and his name remainedundisclosed until this weekend.

Security officials believed that the researcher was recruited as a sleeper agent while living and working in China. He was then sent back to the United Kingdom “with the intention of infiltrating political networks critical of the Beijing regime,” according to the newspaper.

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Scotland Yard confirmed the arrest of “a man in his twenties… in Edinburgh.” He and one other suspect were released on bail until a date in early October, police said.

Before his alleged arrest, Chris led the China Research Group, a body “widely seen as advocating a more ‘hawkish’ British policy towards China”, according to a 2021 academic paper. Co-founded by Tory ministers Tom Tugendhat and Neil O’Brien in April 2020, the group’s committee at one point included up to seven other MPs.

The group’s website states that it was founded to “promote debate and fresh thinking about how Britain should respond to the rise of China,” focusing on industrial, technological, and foreign policy issues. In an ironic flourish, another of its stated aims is to “provide a trustworthy source of news and informed knowledge” on China.

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It was not immediately clear how much access Chris might have had to foreign affairs intelligence, or what kind of influence, if any, he might have held in Westminster. He held a parliamentary pass but did not have security clearance, according to The Sunday Times.

China strongly denies all accusations

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in the UKreleased a statement late Sunday night strongly denying the accusations that the country was involved in an espionage scheme involving Cash, calling them “malicious slander.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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