Lawyer accused of being Chinese spy loses legal battle with UK intelligence agency

A lawyer accused of being a Chinese spy and trying to interfere in British politics on Beijing's behalf has lost a legal battle against the UK's domestic intelligence agency MI5. 

In January 2022, MI5 issued a security alert to lawmakers warning that Christine Lee — a London-based lawyer — was involved in "political interference activities" in the UK in coordination with the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department (UFWD), an organisation known for exerting Beijing's influence abroad. 

At the time, the speaker of the House of Commons, the UK's lower house of parliament, warned that Lee had "facilitated" secretive donations to British political parties and legislators "on behalf of foreign nationals". MPs must declare the source of donations they receive, which are required to come from UK-registered electors or entities. 

Lee’s firm, Christine Lee & Co., primarily provided legal services to the British Chinese community and had served as a legal advisor to the Chinese embassy in London. 

Lee's son, Daniel Wilkes, worked as a diary manager for lawmaker Barry Gardiner for five years, during which she donated approximately £500,000 (€605,000) to the MP, mostly to cover office expenses, according to official records. 

Although she was not charged with any criminal offence, Lee brought a legal action against MI5, arguing that its alert was politically motivated and violated her human rights.

On Tuesday, three judges from the Investigatory Powers Tribunal unanimously rejected her claim, ruling that MI5 had issued the warning for "legitimate reasons".

The tribunal’s ruling came a day after British authorities named Chinese national Yang Tengo as an alleged spy who forged connections with Prince Andrew and aimed to influence key figures in the British establishment on behalf of China’s UFWD.

Yang, 50, was banned from entering the UK last year after MI5 accused him of conducting "covert and deceptive activity" for China. 

Officials described Yang's relationship with Andrew as covert, pointing to correspondence that mentioned facilitating people’s movement "unnoticed in and out of the House of Windsor". Yang has strongly denied the allegations.

Responding to the claims on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian called the accusations against Yang "ridiculous", while the Chinese embassy in London accused British lawmakers of "smearing" China. 

“We urge the UK to immediately stop creating trouble, stop anti-China political manipulations, and stop undermining normal personnel exchanges between China and the UK,” the embassy said in a statement published on its website.