No country — not even the Soviet Union at its peak — has spied in such a comprehensive way as China.
The head of MI6, Sir Richard Moore, warned in December 2021 that “the Chinese intelligence services are highly capable and continue to conduct large-scale espionage operations against the UK and our allies”. In 2022, then home secretary Priti Patel said she was “deeply concerned” that the Chinese Communist Party was targeting British parliamentarians. Other liberal democracies — Australia and Canada — have experienced bouts of sustained political interference by China, leading to an atmosphere of distrust. Such events have left the impression that Communist China is determined to undermine the political foundations of its rivals.
