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UK Authorities Suspect Chinese Spy Active in Parliament

In this photo provided by the UK Parliament, Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during the debate on the situation in Afghanistan inside parliament in London, Aug. 18. (AP)
In this photo provided by the UK Parliament, Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during the debate on the situation in Afghanistan inside parliament in London, Aug. 18. (AP)
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UK Authorities Suspect Chinese Spy Active in Parliament

In this photo provided by the UK Parliament, Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during the debate on the situation in Afghanistan inside parliament in London, Aug. 18. (AP)
In this photo provided by the UK Parliament, Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during the debate on the situation in Afghanistan inside parliament in London, Aug. 18. (AP)

British security services have warned MPs that a suspected Chinese agent "knowingly engaged in political interference activities" inside parliament, authorities said Thursday.

The office of House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle confirmed that it had emailed MPs to tell them of the incident, in consultation with the security services, AFP said.

"The Speaker takes the security of members and the democratic process very seriously, which is why he issued this notice in consultation with the security services," a spokeswoman for Hoyle said.

The Chinese embassy in London denied the accusations, saying "we have no need and never seek to 'buy influence' in any foreign parliament.

"We firmly opposes the trick of smearing and intimidation against the Chinese community in the UK," it added.

The security notice named the suspect as Christine Lee, saying she had "knowingly engaged in political interference activities on behalf of the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party".

The London-based solicitor reportedly donated £200,000 ($275,000, 239,000 euros) to former Labor shadow cabinet member Barry Gardiner and hundreds of thousands of pounds to his party.

Former prime minister Theresa May -- whose Conservatives have been accused of benefiting from millions in Russian money -- presented Lee with an award in 2019 to recognize her contribution to Sino-UK ties.

Lee was also photographed with May's predecessor David Cameron at an event in 2015, and separately with former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Lee "facilitated financial donations to serving and aspiring parliamentarians on behalf of foreign nationals based in Hong Kong and China", said the Speaker's note, according to British media.

"This facilitation was done covertly to mask the origins of the payments. This is clearly unacceptable behavior and steps are being taken to ensure it ceases," it added.

Iain Duncan Smith, a former Conservative leader and vocal critic of Beijing, demanded strong action after Britain's MI5 intelligence agency warned of Lee's activities.

"I say, as a member of parliament who has been sanctioned by the Chinese government, that this is a matter of grave concern," he said.

China last year imposed sanctions on 10 UK organizations and individuals, including Duncan Smith, over what it called the spreading of "lies and disinformation" about human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

Lee has not been arrested or deported, merely barred from entering parliament, he complained.

Conservative former defense minister Tobias Ellwood told the Commons that "this is the sort grey-zone interference we now anticipate and expect from China".

"But the fact that it's happened to this parliament, there must be a sense of urgency from this government."

Gardiner said Christine Lee's son had been employed as his diary manager but had resigned on Thursday.

In a statement, he said all of her donations were properly reported and any suggestion of shady money was not linked to his office, but that he had been "liaising with our security services" for many years about her.

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NATO and Ukraine to Hold Emergency Talks after Russia’s Attack with New Hypersonic Missile

A missile shrapnel lies on the grass in front of damaged rehabilitation center for people with disabilities, following a Russian attack in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, on November 22, 2024. (AFP)
A missile shrapnel lies on the grass in front of damaged rehabilitation center for people with disabilities, following a Russian attack in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, on November 22, 2024. (AFP)
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NATO and Ukraine to Hold Emergency Talks after Russia’s Attack with New Hypersonic Missile

A missile shrapnel lies on the grass in front of damaged rehabilitation center for people with disabilities, following a Russian attack in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, on November 22, 2024. (AFP)
A missile shrapnel lies on the grass in front of damaged rehabilitation center for people with disabilities, following a Russian attack in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, on November 22, 2024. (AFP)

NATO and Ukraine will hold emergency talks Tuesday after Russia attacked a central city with an experimental, hypersonic ballistic missile that escalated the nearly 33-month-old war.

The conflict is “entering a decisive phase,” Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Friday, and “taking on very dramatic dimensions.”

Ukraine’s parliament canceled a session as security was tightened following Thursday's Russian strike on a military facility in the city of Dnipro.

In a stark warning to the West, President Vladimir Putin said in a nationally televised speech to his nation that the attack with the intermediate-range Oreshnik missile was retaliation for Kyiv’s use of US and British longer-range missiles capable of striking deeper into Russian territory.

Putin said Western air defense systems would be powerless to stop the new missile.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov kept up Russia's bellicose tone on Friday, blaming “the reckless decisions and actions of Western countries” in supplying weapons to Ukraine to strike Russia.

"The Russian side has clearly demonstrated its capabilities, and the contours of further retaliatory actions in the event that our concerns were not taken into account have also been quite clearly outlined," he said.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, widely seen as having the warmest relations with the Kremlin in the European Union, echoed Moscow's talking points, suggesting the use of US-supplied weapons in Ukraine likely requires direct American involvement.

“These are rockets that are fired and then guided to a target via an electronic system, which requires the world’s most advanced technology and satellite communications capability,” Orban said on state radio. “There is a strong assumption ... that these missiles cannot be guided without the assistance of American personnel.”

Orban cautioned against underestimating Russia’s responses, emphasizing that the country’s recent modifications to its nuclear deployment doctrine should not be dismissed as a “bluff.” “It’s not a trick... there will be consequences,” he said.

Separately in Kyiv, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský called Thursday's missile strike an “escalatory step and an attempt of the Russian dictator to scare the population of Ukraine and to scare the population of Europe.”

At a news conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Lipavský also expressed his full support for delivering the necessary additional air defense systems to protect Ukrainian civilians from the “heinous attacks.”

He underlined that the Czech Republic will impose no limits on the use of its weapons and equipment given to Ukraine.

Three lawmakers from Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, confirmed that Friday's previously scheduled session was called off due to the ongoing threat of Russian missiles targeting government buildings in central Kyiv.

In addition, there also was a recommendation to limit the work of all commercial offices and nongovernmental organizations "in that perimeter, and local residents were warned of the increased threat,” said lawmaker Mykyta Poturaiev, who added this is not the first time such a threat has been received.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office continued to work in compliance with standard security measures, a spokesperson said.

Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate said the Oreshnik missile, whose name in Russian means “hazelnut tree,” was fired from the Kapustin Yar 4th Missile Test Range in Russia’s Astrakhan region, and flew 15 minutes before striking Dnipro. The missile had six nonnuclear warheads each carrying six submunitions and reached a spoeed of Mach 11, it said.

Test launches of a similar missile were conducted in October 2023 and June 2024, the directorate said. The Pentagon confirmed the missile was a new, experimental type of intermediate-range missile based on its RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile.

Thursday's attack struck the Pivdenmash plant that built ICBMs when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. The military facility is located about 4 miles (6 1/2 kilometers) southwest of the center of Dnipro, a city of about 1 million that is Ukraine’s fourth-largest and a key hub for military supplies and humanitarian aid, and is home to one of the country’s largest hospitals for treating wounded soldiers from the front before their transfer to Kyiv or abroad.

The stricken area was cordoned off and out of public view. With no fatalities reported from the attack, Dnipro residents resorted to dark humor on social media, mostly focused on the missile’s name, Oreshnik.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, Russia struck a residential district of Sumy overnight with Iranian-designed Shahed drones, killing two people and injuring 13, the regional administration said..

Ukraine’s Suspilne media, quoting Sumy regional head Volodymyr Artiukh, said the drones were stuffed with shrapnel elements. “These weapons are used to destroy people, not to destroy objects,” said Artiukh, according to Suspilne.