MI5 warns UK lawmakers of Chinese spies on LinkedIn

Britain’s domestic intelligence agency on Tuesday warned lawmakers that Chinese spies were “actively” reaching out to them via recruitment headhunters.

Writing to lawmakers, House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle said a new MI5 “espionage alert” warned that Chinese nationals were “using LinkedIn profiles to conduct outreach at scale” on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of State Security.

“Their aim is to collect information and lay the groundwork for long-term relationships, using professional networking sites, recruitment agents and consultants acting on their behalf,” he said.

MI5 issued the alert because the activity was “targeted and widespread”, he added.

The alert named two women, Amanda Qiu and Shirly Shen, and said other similar recruiters’ profiles were acting as fronts for espionage.

British intelligence officials have steadily ramped up their warnings about espionage threats from China.