The new China spy scandal that’s sparking fury at proposed Xi UK visit

President Xi Jinping should be barred from an international summit in Manchester next year unless Chinese sanctions against British citizens and MPs are lifted first, campaigners including the former Tory minister Iain Duncan Smith have told the Prime Minister, amid a new spy scandal. The row comes amid fresh espionage allegations that Chinese spies sought sensitive personal information about MPs who have been sanctioned by Beijing – raising further questions about the treatment of critics of China’s leadership on British soil. Government would be ‘spineless’ to invite Xi Sir Iain, is one of nine MPs, Peers and UK citizens who were sanctioned by Beijing in 2021 for spreading “lies and disinformation” after speaking out against human rights abuses of the Uyghur people, which it is argued amounts to genocide. Others include the current Shadow Foreign Secretary Tom Tugendhat, the human rights lawyer and Labour peer Baroness Helena Kennedy and the current Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, Nusrat Ghani. Sir Iain told The i Paper that an invitation to Xi by the government would be “spineless” and revealed desperation it for China to help it out of its “economic problems” and accused the Government of “not giving a damn” about China’s sustained “attack” on MPs sanctioned by Beijing. His intervention comes amid claims that the Foreign Office is seeking to persuade Beijing to lift its remaining sanctions against British figures ahead of next year’s summit, in an effort to avoid an embarrassing diplomatic row. Following his visit to China in January, former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said Xi had assured him that sanctions no longer applied to serving British parliamentarians. However, there has been no published formal confirmation that the measures were legally revoked.Questions also remain over restrictions affecting the families of those targeted, as well as the non MPs or Lords who were sanctioned, Dr Jo Smith Finley and Sir Geoffrey Nice KC. The Foreign Office has continued to seek clarification from Beijing over their position. Those efforts are understood to be continuing as Burnham makes clear his desire to welcome Xi Jinping to Manchester for the G20 summit in November 2027. The sanctions prevent them from travelling to China and Chinese business or institutions doing business with them. New spying allegations The row follows a report in The Mail on Sunday that people allegedly acting on behalf of Chinese interests sought to obtain financial details and personal telephone records belonging to the sanctioned MPs. Sir Iain demanded to know what the Government knew about the alleged operation, what information Beijing might hold and why the MPs concerned had not been alerted. The claims were raised in the Commons last week by Sir Iain, who said an individual had been approached and asked to gather sensitive information about the parliamentarians. According to Sir Iain, the individual was told that China already possessed the information. Security Minister Dan Jarvis confirmed that an FBI investigation was ongoing and that there was a live Interpol arrest warrant. He declined to comment on the specific allegations, saying that doing so risked prejudicing the investigation. He added that the Government took the safety of parliamentarians seriously and that espionage, political interference and transnational repression would not be tolerated. In an interview with The Economist last week, Burnham was he was “very keen to see Xi Jinping come to the G20”. He recalled meeting the Chinese president during his 2015 visit to Manchester, saying: “I spoke to him and we had a good conversation.” He said Xi would see a very different city when he returned 12 years later, adding that some of Manchester’s development had been achieved “in partnership with China”. Burnham described the summit as a “real opportunity” to build on Starmer’s visit to China and said Britain could help bring Beijing and Washington together on issues such as artificial intelligence and the need for international rules governing the technology. An awkward visit for Xi Xi’s return to Manchester could prove awkward given the controversy surrounding the Chinese consulate in the city. In 2022, police sought to question the consul-general and five members of his staff over the assault of Hong Kong protester Bob Chan, but all six left the UK before they could be interviewed after Beijing declined to waive their diplomatic immunity. The then foreign secretary, James Cleverly, said he was disappointed they would not face questioning. Baroness Kennedy added that while dialogue with China should be maintained on issues such as climate change, any invitation to Xi to visit Manchester must be conditional on the sanctions being lifted. She told The i Paper: “I think he should be invited because I believe we should try to maintain dialogue on issues like climate but any invite should be conditional upon specifically lifting the sanctions against parliamentarians. But also against academics and Sir Geoffrey Nice KC.” The Foreign Office, the Home Office and the Chinese Embassy have been approached for comment.