MI5: More than 100 academics linked to Chinese spy-tied institute
The Security Service named the China General Technology Research Institute and said its primary purpose is to fund research that directly improves China’s Ministry of State Security’s technical capability for espionage.
More than 100 UK-linked academics have contributed to research projects funded by a Chinese institute with close ties to China’s Ministry of State Security, MI5 said in an alert published on 30 September.
The institute, known as the China General Technology Research Institute, or CGTRI, has funded academic work in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, covert communications systems and steganography, the technique of hiding data inside ordinary files, according to the alert. CGTRI channels that funding from China’s Ministry of State Security, the alert said.
MI5 urged UK academic institutions to review immediately any ongoing or planned cooperation with the institute and to take legal advice. Academics collaborating with Chinese institutions were told to establish the ultimate source of funding for any project to make sure CGTRI was not involved.
Security Minister Dan Jarvis wrote to every UK university vice-chancellor asking them to help staff end arrangements with CGTRI. “This alert exposes attempts by Chinese intelligence to covertly benefit from the expertise and research of our academics,” Jarvis said, adding that the activity was “undermining our national security.”
MI5 said the activity presented a threat to UK national security. Academics may have been acting in good faith, the Security Service said, but any further cooperation with the institute after the 30 September warning could breach the National Security Act 2023.
Under that Act, assisting a foreign intelligence service or obtaining material benefits from a hostile state carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison, a fine, or both. The 30 September alert was the first that MI5 has published independently under its own name, City AM reported.
China’s embassy in London rejected the accusations, describing them as entirely fabricated and malicious slander, according to City AM.
Shadow Security Minister Alicia Kearns said: “I’m sick and tired of academics telling me that academic research rises above geopolitics and national security concerns.”