UK Government Points Finger at China for Cyber-Attacks
In a bold move, the UK government is set to attribute cyber-attacks that breached the personal information of millions of voters to China.
The Electoral Commission fell victim to these attacks in August 2021, but the breach was only disclosed last year.
Members of Parliament and peers who have been vocal critics of Beijing are believed to have also been targeted in these cyber-attacks.
Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden is scheduled to make a statement to Parliament on Monday regarding the looming threat.
Sources reveal that other Western nations are poised to express similar apprehensions.
While the Electoral Commission confirmed the attacks last August, stating that unidentified “hostile actors” had accessed copies of electoral registers and breached their emails and “control systems,” they asserted that no elections or voter registration statuses were affected.
It is now speculated that Dowden will insinuate that the perpetrators behind the cyber-attacks have ties to Beijing, while also outlining the UK’s proposed response to what it perceives as a broader threat.
The Chinese Embassy has been contacted by the BBC for a comment on the matter.
The government emphasizes that it has previously turned down or scaled back Chinese investments in critical infrastructure due to national security concerns.
Three MPs who are believed to have been targeted — former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, former minister Tim Laughton, and the SNP’s Stewart McDonald — are slated to receive a security briefing from parliamentary authorities.
These MPs are part of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, a group that scrutinizes and frequently criticizes Beijing’s activities.
Concern within the UK government regarding Chinese espionage and interference in parliamentary affairs has been steadily mounting.
In September 2023, a parliamentary researcher was apprehended under the Official Secrets Act on charges of spying for China.
A year prior, an unusual alert was issued regarding potential parliamentary interference by UK-based lawyer Christine Lee, with MI5 alleging that she had engaged in political meddling, including making donations to support MPs, all purportedly on behalf of China.
China has consistently refuted allegations of espionage and misconduct. — BBC
