A spy disguised as a tourist was reportedly sent by China to watch two Hong Kong pro-democracy activists brief the Commons.
The unnamed man was refused entry to the invitation-only talk at a private committee room in Westminster on Wednesday, July 5, and was shown the door when officials found he wasn't on the approved list.
The event was being chaired by Tory MP Bob Seely, with speakers being Finn Lau and Christopher Mung - dissidents who fled to the UK and for whom Beijing-controlled police have placed £100,000 bounties on their heads over alleged security law breaches.
But questions were raised when a man claiming to be a tourist turned up, saying he had been directed to the room by a tour guide.
The man wanted to sit in on the event despite not having an invite, and refusing to say the organisation he appeared on behalf of.
Some 200 people attended the briefing, including some Hong Kongers who covered their faces out of fears for their safety.
Mr Lau and Mr Mung face arrest back on Chinese soil, and have recently expressed fears for their safety even in the UK, with arrest warrants also out for a further four activists.
The pair demanded a meeting with Foreign Secretary James Cleverly earlier this month over security concerns.
Mr Lau, who founded the Hong Kong Liberty group, believes the attempted intruder was likely sent on behalf of China's Communist Party.
"This is one of the remotest committee rooms in Parliament. And it is on the top floor," he said.
"It is not a coincidence that a random Chinese tourist was outside the room at the exact right time and was attempting to access the event."
Mr Seely said, if true, the failed attempt was "yet another example of this regime’s cack-handed malign incompetence".
"It would be completely inappropriate for Beijing to send an operative to intimidate or record people inside a private parliamentary event," said the MP.
Several prominent British politicians, including former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, have had sanctions imposed on them by the Chinese government over alleged human rights abuses in the country in recent years.
In response, Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has informed the Chinese ambassador he cannot attend Parliament.
Following Tuesday's news, Sir Iain urged the Government to act, while Labour MP and former foreign minister Sir Chris Bryant said people in Westminster "need to be like hawks about who has access to Parliamentary meetings".
Speaking on Twitter, Mr Lau said: "I have raised three key demands at the parliamentary press conference: A meeting with the Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Home Secretary Suella Braverman on [the] CCP’s transnational repression, an assurance from the UK govt that, anyone attempting to detain UK-based Hong Kongers for bounty purpose, will be charged and trialled under the UK law [and] urging any British judges who are still serving on the HK court to be stripped with their titles in the House of Lords & banned from practicing."
