Rishi Sunak met China’s premier Li Qiang at the G20 summit after two men were arrested amid reports a parliamentary researcher spied for China. Mr Sunak said interference in UK parliamentary democracy was “obviously unacceptable”.
Rishi Sunak has confronted China’s premier about Chinese interference in the UK’s parliamentary democracy.
It comes after two men were arrested under the Official Secrets Act amid reports a parliamentary researcher spied for China.
The researcher, who is in his 20s, is understood to have had links to security minister Tom Tugendhat, foreign affairs committee chairwoman Alicia Kearns and other senior Tory MPs.
Mr Sunak met Chinese premier Li Qiang, who is attending the G20 summit in India in place of President Xi Jinping, on the fringes of the gathering’s final session on Sunday morning.
Speaking after the meeting, Mr Sunak said he raised his “very strong concern” about interference with parliamentary democracy, which he said was “obviously unacceptable”.
It was the “right approach” to talk face-to-face with China’s premier, he said.
“Where there are areas of disagreement… I’d rather be in the room directly expressing my concerns, and that’s what I did today.”
The arrests were made in March and first revealed by The Sunday Times.
Mr Sunak has been clear China is an “epoch-defining” challenge, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips.
He defended security in parliament, saying a “rigorous approach is taken” in terms of who is given a parliamentary pass.
Asked if there are weaknesses in the security system that need addressing, he said: “I don’t think you should rule anything out.”
Officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command, which oversees espionage-related offences, are investigating.
Mr Chalk said the investigation must “play through” and police and security services are taking this “seriously”.
“Whatever lessons need to be learned by the parliamentary authorities I’m sure will be learned,” he said.