Promising headlines appeared in the British press that a Chinese spy disguised as a tourist got into the British Parliament. The latter was supposed to “infiltrate” a closed briefing of Hong Kong democracy activists.
As the press assures, the spy tried to get to the event, but he was blocked at the door because his name was not on the guest list. He claimed that he could attend the event as part of an official tour and left the area after a brief dialogue.
Event organizer Bob Seeley, the Conservative MP who organized the event, has already solemnly declared: “If this was a spy for the Chinese Communist Party, then this is yet another example of this regime’s vicious incompetence. It would be inappropriate for Beijing to send an operative to intimidate or record people at a private parliamentary event.”
The head of the foreign affairs committee, Alicia Kearns, also hastened to declare “espionage”: “We have seen how far the CCP is willing to go in suppressing freedoms in Hong Kong. Now she suggests they have information about private meetings in Parliament. We must protect the right of brave Hong Kongers to speak out against the PRC’s actions, not least in Parliament, and do everything in our power to prevent Beijing from continuing its campaign of transnational repression on UK soil.”