British intelligence service threatens scientists with prosecution for collaborating with Chinese technology institute

British intelligence service MI5 has issued a stern warning: more than a hundred scientists in the United Kingdom are working with a Chinese institute that promotes espionage. And that is illegal.

In a brief statement, MI5 says that a particular Chinese technology research institute has strong links to a Chinese intelligence service. The institute (China General Technology Research Institute) is said to be seeking technological expertise in the West to strengthen Chinese espionage.

Well-intentioned

According to MI5, the research covers areas such as AI, cybersecurity and steganography. More than a hundred researchers in the United Kingdom are said to have contributed to such research projects, and they may not even know that their work is being funded by the Chinese institute.

MI5 acknowledges that the collaboration is likely to be well-intentioned, but says it must come to an end. Otherwise, the researchers risk prosecution. Scientists should now be aware that they may be helping a foreign intelligence service if they collaborate with the institute – and such assistance is a criminal offence.

The BBC describes the warning as highly unusual. A representative of the Chinese embassy in London has rejected the allegations and called the threat ‘imaginary’.

The Netherlands

It is not easy to establish whether the institute also funds research in the Netherlands. The funding may be channelled through certain companies or institutions that are not immediately apparent in a search.

But scientific collaboration with China is also under scrutiny in the Netherlands in general, particularly since a warning from the Clingendael Institute in 2020 about Chinese influence. A series of articles published in 2021 by the Delft university magazine Delta (‘How TU Delft is unintentionally helping the Chinese military’) also had a major impact.

For reasons of knowledge security, the government has for years been working on introducing screening for foreign students and scientists who come to the Netherlands to study sensitive fields, but putting the scheme into practice has proved difficult. In June, the government once again postponed the screening.

Links to the military

This spring, the Dutch intelligence service AIVD warned about Chinese attempts to steal knowledge in the Netherlands. In the spring, Eindhoven University of Technology ended its collaboration with several Chinese universities said to have links to the military.

Conversely, Dutch universities are strengthening their ties with the Dutch military. They recently agreed to closer collaboration. The Ministry of Defence will receive billions of euros in additional funding over the coming years, some of which will go towards knowledge and innovation.