MI5 chief accuses China of playing a 'long game' in UK by influencing people in power

 Ken McCallum, the MI5 chief has said that China is playing a "long game". He highlighted that they are not seeking to just co-opt and influence people who are in positions of power today, but to co-opt and influence people who are in the earlier stage of their career in public life and will be in positions of power one day. MI5 chief heads the agency which is responsible for UK's domestic security and counter-intelligence. 

The statements were made by Ken McCallum during his speech in which he lays out the UK's annual threat based assessment, as per a report from the Financial Times. He said that the challenges China poses are much more worrisome than the immediate challenges posed by Russia. He informed that China was cultivating assets not just in government but in academia and business as well. China is rewriting the "rule book, to buy the league, to recruit our coaching staff to work for them," he said. 

Chinese espionage 

In October, information emerged that former Royal Air Force pilots were working for China's PLA. Beijing apparently made them a generous package, which persuaded them to work for China, which intended to learn about western capabilities and tactics from these pilots. China was recruiting not just British pilots but French, Australian and reportedly American pilots as well. The UK is considering banning all Confucius Institutes in prominent British universities, as 10 Downing Street fears that they carry out influence operations at Beijing's behest in British universities. 

Most teachers of Mandarin language in Britain are affiliated with the Confucius Institute. Currently, the UK is in talks with Taiwan to work out a plan, under which Taiwanese teachers will move to the UK to teach Mandarin to British students. According to the Financial Times report, MI5 took the extraordinary step of warning MPs that a certain London solicitor was a Chinese agent and this agent was allegedly carrying out influence operations. China's espionage is not limited to the UK. Earlier this week, Canada arrested a person working in Canada's public utility company for transferring critical EV battery technology to China. There are a number of incidents detailing China's espionage activities in the US as well.