Weeks after China’s mega-embassy opened in London (the one that’s right next to all of their tappable communications cables), the husband of Labour Party whip Joani Reid was arrested over Chinese espionage concerns, prompting the lawmaker to step aside amid ongoing probes.
Reid’s membership in the party is now under suspension while she remains an elected lawmaker, as her husband, 39-year-old David Taylor, was one of three men arrested on Wednesday under the National Security Act. The men allegedly assisted a Chinese intelligence agency.
In addition to Taylor, former Labour Party press officer Matthew Aplin and former Welsh government special advisor Steve Jones were identified as the other two who were arrested.
As the Epoch Times notes further, Reid stressed that she’s not under investigation and that neither she nor her children are involved in her husband’s business activities.
“I have done nothing wrong. I love my country,” she said in a statement, noting she has not seen anything to make her suspect her husband has “broken any law.”
She described the suspension as voluntary.
“This week has been the worst of my life,” she said.
Chinese espionage concerns have grown in the country recently, with domestic intelligence agency MI5 warning the country’s politicians that they are targets of Chinese agents. On the same day of the trio’s arrests, two other men—a Hong Kong police superintendent and a UK border official—went on trial on charges of spying on the Hong Kong diaspora in the country.
Authorities on March 4 also raided the house of a veteran British journalist over the latest spying case.
The journalist, Martin Shipton, described loud banging that woke him up early in the morning.
In a piece for Nation.Cymru, a Welsh news service, Shipton recalled going on an all-expense-paid trip with Taylor to Hong Kong at Taylor’s invitation. The trip happened about three years ago and lasted around a week, funded by a Chinese think tank that advised the top Chinese leader on international relations, he said. He emphasized that he was not under arrest and that he voluntarily gave a statement to the police about the trip.
At the House of Commons chamber, UK Minister of State for Security Dan Jarvis expressed alarm over “an increasing pattern of covert activity from Chinese state-linked actors targeting UK democracy,” whether it be gathering intelligence on policymaking or active interference in governance.
British officials have raised strong concerns with their Chinese counterparts in both London and Beijing, he said.
Multiple local lawmakers took the occasion to highlight security risks they saw with plans of a new, expanded Chinese embassy that their government greenlit in January.
“The Chinese only represent strength, and for them everything is transactional,” Conservative lawmaker Edward Leigh said.
He called on the UK authorities to summon the Chinese ambassador over the “intolerable” actions.
“You cannot build this mega-embassy in just about the most sensitive site in London while you behave like this,” he said.
In the United States, Chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) echoed the view.
He noted another Chinese spy trial in London last fall, which collapsed before it began because the government failed to provide evidence that China represents a national security threat.
“The British government’s failure to properly prosecute alleged spies last fall, coupled with its approval of China’s mega embassy, only emboldens the CCP’s espionage activities in the UK,” Moolenaar said.
He urged the UK to rescind the Chinese mega embassy approval and prosecute the cases thoroughly.
“As one of our closest security partners with access to American intelligence on China, the UK’s commitment to protecting sensitive information must be beyond doubt,” he said.
Reid’s office didn’t respond to a query from The Epoch Times by publication time.
Loading recommendations…
