China's security agency has said that it has detained a foreign national collecting secrets and information for British Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6. According to Financial Times (FT), the foreigner, only identified by surname Huang, was in charge of an overseas consulting agency. The consultant is from a "third country" and carried out espionage activities on behalf of MI6, the Chinese spy agency said on its WeChat account on Monday. The alleged spy was instructed to enter China multiple times since 2015, gather information and help recruit people for MI6, the FT report further said.
The British embassy has not said anything on the claim made by the Chinese spy agency.
Time Magazine said China did not identify any firms or Huang's nationality, but said the consultant was trained by MI6 and given equipment to carry out espionage.
The investigation shows China's continued scrutiny on the consulting sector, which has seen several anti-espionage crackdowns in the past year.
This is the first time that the Chinese spy agency has accused the UK of spying. Beijing had earlier provided details on alleged spies for US authorities.
China has been cracking down on perceived threats to its national security, revealing several cases of spying that it caught in recent years.
The government also has been warning its citizens in the country and abroad of the dangers of getting caught up in espionage activities. It has been encouraging people to join counter-espionage work that includes creating channels to report suspicious activity.
China has also unleashed a sweeping crackdown on foreign consultancy and due diligence firms over threats of revealing state secrets that has unnerved foreign companies operating in the country.
