British intelligence chief frustrated after high-profile China spy prosecution fails

Don’t miss the full story, whose reporting from Jill Lawless at The Associated Press is the basis of this AI-assisted article.

​Britain’s MI5 intelligence chief declared China poses a daily national security threat, escalating pressure on authorities to explain the collapse of a high-profile espionage prosecution against two men accused of spying for Beijing.

Some key facts:

• MI5 Director-General Ken McCallum stated that Chinese state actors present a daily threat to the U.K. national security, with the agency stopping a Beijing-backed threat as recently as last week.

• Prosecutors dropped charges last month against Christopher Berry and Christopher Cash, who were accused of providing information to China that could harm U.K. interests.

• Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson blamed the case collapse on government officials refusing to testify under oath that China was a national security threat during the alleged offense period of 2021-2023.

• McCallum identified China, Russia and Iran as the “big three” state threats facing Britain, with state threat investigations increasing 35% in the past year.

• MI5 has disrupted 19 late-stage terror attack plots since 2020, with suspects getting younger and 1 in 5 arrested last year being under age 17.

• Russia and Iran are allegedly using “ugly methods” including surveillance, sabotage, arson and physical violence against perceived enemies on British soil, McCallum said.

• The U.K.’s center-left Labor government has attempted to cautiously reset relations with Beijing after years of tensions over spying, human rights, and China’s support for Russia.

• McCallum warned about potential threats from artificial intelligence, stating it would be reckless to ignore AI’s potential to cause harm even if it never “means” harm.

READ MORE: MI5 chief says China is a daily threat to U.K. security amid row over collapse of spying case