(MENAFN) The British security minister on Tuesday raised alarms over “Chinese spying threats” that he said are interfering with the country’s democracy, following an espionage alert issued by MI5 to parliament.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Dan Jarvis stated the government will not tolerate “covert and calculated” attempts by China to meddle in Britain’s sovereign affairs. He added that Beijing has been contacting lawmakers and peers to obtain sensitive parliamentary information.

“It builds on a pattern of activity that we have seen from China with cyber-operations by China state-affiliated actors targeting parliamentary emails in 2021, attempted foreign interference activity by Christine Lee in 2022, and other more recent cases,” Jarvis said.

The minister emphasized that the government will take all necessary steps to safeguard national interests, citizens, and democratic institutions, including collaborating with international allies. However, he noted that a decision has not yet been made on whether China will join Russia and Iran in the FIRS Enhanced Tier, which mandates registration of foreign-directed political influence activities in the UK.

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