UK Issues Espionage Alert As MI5 Flags Chinese Spy Profiles On LinkedIn Targeting British MPs

Last Updated:November 19, 2025, 09:23 IST

MI5 has actually alerted UK legislators of presumed Chinese spy profiles on LinkedIn, triggering a main espionage alert throughout Westminster.

British intelligence firm MI5 has actually cautioned its Members of Parliament that Chinese intelligence operatives are utilizing phony” headhunter” profiles on job searching website, LinkedIn to target MPs, parliamentary staff, and officials with access to sensitive information. 

According to briefings shared with lawmakers, the agency has identified at least two online profiles masquerading as legitimate recruiters but allegedly operating on behalf of Chinese intelligence services to cultivate potential sources.

Officials say these operatives approach targets under the guise of career opportunities, seeking to build rapport before gradually soliciting privileged political or governmental information.

What we know about MI5’s anti-espionage strategy?

In response to the alert, Security Minister Dan Jarvis announced a new Counter Political Interference and Espionage Action Plan aimed at disrupting foreign intelligence activity, with a particular focus on the threat from China.

Under the plan, intelligence agencies will deliver security briefings to political parties and circulate updated guidance to election candidates on how to recognise and report suspicious approaches. 

The government will also work with professional networking platforms, including LinkedIn, to make it harder for hostile actors to operate anonymously or establish fake recruiter personas.

The strategy includes tightening rules on political donations through measures in the forthcoming Elections Bill, aimed at curbing covert foreign influence efforts. Jarvis described the move as a necessary step to “disrupt and deter foreign espionage activity wherever they find it”

British federal government’s China policy

Jarvis stated, “Today we’ve acted to expose a concealed and calculated effort by China to disrupt our sovereign affairs. This federal government’s very first task is to keep the nation safe, which is why I’ve revealed brand-new action to provide security authorities the powers and tools they require.”

He stressed that while the Kier Starmer government would continue to pursue an economic relationship with China where beneficial, it would “always challenge” Beijing when it threatened Britain’s democratic systems or nationwide security.

Along with the action strategy, the federal government has actually apparently devoted considerable financial investment to enhance the UK’s security abilities. This consists of ₤ 170 million to modernise the encrypted innovation utilized by civil servants and an additional ₤ 130 million for efforts such as broadening Counter Terrorism Policing’s enforcement of the National Security Act. Extra funds will support the National Cyber Security Centre and the National Protective Security Authority in assisting UK markets secure copyright.

Jarvis likewise verified that monitoring devices from business based on China’s National Intelligence Law has actually now been eliminated from all delicate UK federal government websites worldwide.

The MI5 caution follows the collapse in September of a case versus 2 British guys implicated of spying for China, after district attorneys concluded they did not have enough proof. Opposition celebrations have actually implicated Prime Minister Keir Starmer of prioritising enhanced relations with Beijing over nationwide security, a claims the federal government strongly rejects.

The espionage alert likewise comes as ministers prepare to pick authorizing a big brand-new Chinese embassy in London, a proposition currently dealing with examination in the middle of worries of extra security dangers.