A DUP MP has added his voice to concerns the Chinese Communist Party may be operating illegal "police stations" in Northern Ireland and other parts of the UK.
Jim Shannon spoke to Belfast Live and confirmed he was aware of some of his constituents were afraid their movements were being monitored and their phones tapped.
The issue has previously been raised in the UK Parliament, with suspicions there are four illegal police stations operating in the UK currently, with one being somewhere in Belfast.
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"People from my constituency, but also people from other constituencies as well, have spoken to me about the fact they say they're aware their phones are being tapped," Jim Shannon confirmed.
"Their concerns are that they have family back home in Hong Kong and because they have family, they're very conscious that whatever they do or say, that the Chinese authorities or whoever it may be, are keeping a tab on them.
"So their concerns are based really truthfully upon fear, the concern they have for their relatives back home and the concern they have for themselves here in the United Kingdom."
Mr Shannon said the UK government was aware of the issue and it was raised as recently as last month by MPs.
"The Chinese influence on the United Kingdom is something that's been highlighted in Westminster for some time now, "Mr Shannon added.
"People do feel that the tentacles of the Chinese Communist Party are reaching out across the United Kingdom and yes as far into Strangford and indeed across all Northern Ireland."
The DUP MP went on to say that the line between official capacity and illegal activity was being blurred.
"There are Chinese buildings which they control - are they police stations in a real sense? No, they're not," he said.
"But many people here in the United Kingdom suspect that they're being used in a policing way, which means they're being used to keep an eye on people moving about within the United Kingdom.
"They don't have any authority, but they can keep an eye on people.
"It's a real, real threat and it's something that many fear and many, many people have deep and fearful concerns over."
The Home Office said it was aware of the allegations surrounding illegal activity on behalf of the Chinese government within the UK.
"Reports of alleged, undeclared ‘police stations’ operating in the UK are of course very concerning and are taken extremely seriously," a spokesperson said.
"Attempts by foreign Governments to coerce, intimidate, harass or harm their critics overseas, undermining democracy and the rule of law, are unacceptable.
"We are committed to tackling these challenges wherever they originate."
The former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith is one of several MPs who have voiced grave concern about the ongoing situation.
Speaking in Parliament last month he questioned why more was not being done to shut down illegal operations.
"We know that they are bringing Chinese dissidents in, confronting them with videos of their families, and threatening their families in front of them if they do not co-operate, leave and go back to China," he said.
"We know that. The security services have warned the Government about it.
"The question today is this: Why in heaven’s name have we not acted, alongside the Americans and even the Dutch, to shut those stations down and kick those people out of the country?".
His fellow party member and MP Alicia Kearns said she was frustrated at the slow pace of progress in tackling the issue.
"I am exasperated that, six months after I secured an urgent question on this issue, it is still true that there are four illegal police stations operating in the country that we know of—the one in Belfast seems to be missing from much of the reporting," she said.
"There is no question that when we are vulnerable at home to Chinese transnational repression, we are weaker on the world stage."
The issue of illegal police stations in the UK being operated by Chinese figures is under investigation.
A National Security Bill is due to enter its final stages in May which would introduce a significant package of measures to be used against the full range of state threats activity, including new criminal offences of 'foreign Interference' and 'assisting a foreign intelligence service'.
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