Chinese spies using LinkedIn to target British lawmakers

Security minister Dan Jarvis has said the government will not tolerate "covert and calculated" attempts to interfere with the UK's sovereign affairs, after MI5 warned MPs of the risk from Chinese spies.

1news.media informs an alert issued to MPs, peers and parliamentary staff by security services identified two LinkedIn profiles, which it says are used on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS).

It says they act as "civilian recruitment headhunters", targeting individuals working in British politics to solicit "insider insights".

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in the UK said accusations of espionage were "pure fabrication" and accused the UK of a "self-staged charade".

"We strongly condemn such despicable moves of the UK side and have lodged stern representations with them," the spokesperson said.

They urged the UK to "stop going further down the wrong path of undermining China-UK relations".