The Chinese government has dismissed claims that its state actors were involved in compromising classified UK government computer systems.
In a statement on Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Beijing “firmly rejects the allegation” and accused the United Kingdom of engaging in political manipulation.
“China firmly rejects the allegation that Chinese state actors compromised classified UK government computer systems. We urge relevant people in the UK to stop such vilification and political manipulation,” Lin said.
The response comes after British authorities accused China of carrying out large-scale cyber-espionage activities targeting sensitive government data.
Beijing has consistently denied similar accusations in the past, maintaining that it opposes all forms of hacking and urging other nations to base their claims on evidence rather than speculation.
Head of MI5 Sir Ken McCallum had accused Chinese state operatives of posing daily national security threats to the UK.
In a speech, he said MI5 had intervened operationally to disrupt Chinese activity of national security concern in the past week.
Addressing the collapse of a case involving alleged spying for China in the UK, Sir Ken said the activity had been disrupted by MI5 and described it as frustrating when prosecutions fall through.
This followed the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) dropping the case last month after deciding that the evidence did not show China was a threat to national security.
Witness statements from the UK’s Deputy National Security Adviser, Matthew Collins—published on Wednesday—however, indicate that China is carrying out spying operations against the UK.
In the documents, he said China was conducting large-scale espionage against the UK and remained the biggest state-based threat to the country’s economic security.
The Conservatives have accused the government of allowing the spy case to collapse to avoid jeopardising economic relations with China.