China’s embassy in London said today it strongly condemned witness statements released by Britain in an espionage case, saying they were “baseless accusations that are completely fabricated and baseless”.

“We call on the UK to stop making an issue of China, stop engaging in anti-China publicity and stop undermining China-UK relations,” an embassy spokesman said in a statement posted on its website.

The head of Britain’s intelligence services warned today of the “threat” China poses to the UK on a daily basis, as a spying scandal on Beijing’s behalf puts intense pressure on Keir Starmer’s Labor government.

The case comes as Labor, after taking power in July 2024, is trying to boost dialogue with China after years of frosty relations under Conservative governments.

This prompted a sharp reaction from Beijing today, which said the pro-China espionage accusations were “absolutely fabricated” and threatened to “undermine relations between the two countries”.

China is Britain’s fifth largest trading partner, according to the latest official figures.

However, the trade relationship remains deeply imbalanced in Beijing’s favour: in 2024, Britain imported about £67bn (€77bn) worth of Chinese goods, against £19bn (€21bn) worth of British goods imported by China.

How did the affair begin?

Christopher Cash, a 30-year-old parliamentary researcher, and Christopher Berry, a 32-year-old former teacher in China, were arrested in 2023 on charges of collecting and passing on to Beijing information that could be “directly or indirectly useful to an enemy”.

The two men, who deny the charges, are charged under the “State Secrets Act,” which prohibits the release of state secrets or information that could threaten national security.

However, the court proceedings were halted in September, with Attorney-General Stephen Parkinson saying the government had failed to provide evidence that China posed a threat to Britain’s national security. According to the prosecution, this was a necessary element to complete the prosecutions.

– The Confrontation –

The halting of prosecutions has sparked a backlash, with the Conservative opposition accusing the government of lobbying for the charges to be dropped in order to appease Beijing and avoid jeopardizing Chinese investment in the UK.

Keir Starmer emphasized that the Conservative government in power at the time of the events (between December 2021 and February 2023) had never explicitly identified China as a threat.

The prime minister, who said he was “deeply disappointed” by the suspension of prosecution, insisted that the prosecution is independent of politics. He described the opposition’s accusations as “slanderous claims”.

And as the dispute continued, on Wednesday he finally approved the publication of the evidence his government had passed on to the judiciary. These are three statements by Matthew Collins, Deputy National Security Adviser.

– What do the depositions say? –

They clearly show that the government views China as a threat, which could draw attention to the prosecution and raise questions about its decision to drop charges.

In the most recent filing, dated August 2025, Collins writes that “Chinese intelligence services are conducting large-scale espionage operations against the United Kingdom (…) to harm its interests and security.”

These businesses “threaten the UK’s economic prosperity and the resilience and integrity of our democratic institutions”, he writes, while stressing that the British government wants to build “a positive relationship with China”.

Collins’ depositions also reveal that the two men behind the scandal were accused of passing sensitive political information to a Chinese intelligence agent for about a year.

– And now? –

The conservative opposition then assessed that it was information “limited, far from what was requested” by the government.

“The China files must now be released in their entirety and without delay,” insisted a Conservative party spokesman.

On the Labor side, MP Matt Western announced today that the national security committee, which he chairs, would open an inquiry “as soon as possible” into the case. There are “a lot of questions that need to be asked,” he said.