NEW SPEECH: MI5 Director General Ken McCallum on threats and risks from Chinese authorities
A Beijing to Britain note
Hello,
Earlier today, MI5 Director General Ken McCallum delivered his annual Threat Update. While discussing a range of threats facing the United Kingdom generally - from the war in Europe to extremism - this speech has significant mentions of Chinese interference and strategies.
Today’s Briefing Note is split into three sections.
Speech quotes that mention China
Analysis and context (for paid readers)
Speech transcript in full (for paid readers)
Key quotes
On the threat the CCP presents
“We’re seeing an increasingly assertive Chinese Communist Party using overt and covert pressure to bend other countries to its will.”
On choices around action
“The classic prioritisation choice for us is deciding what to pursue within hundreds of fragmentary leads to potential terrorist activity…How to prioritise combatting repression of the Chinese diaspora…”
On State Threats
“I’ll start on threats posed to us by States, where MI5 is making the biggest shifts in a generation. We are facing adversaries who have massive scale and are not squeamish about the tactics they deploy. The West is in a contest in which our security, values and democratic institutions are at stake. To be clear: at stake because of the actions of authoritarian regimes, not because of the people living under those regimes.”
On the threat from China
“Our national resilience, brought into sharp focus by COVID, is a vital asset in which we must invest. Which brings me to China. In the summer, speaking alongside Director Wray of the FBI, I said that the activities of the Chinese Communist Party pose the most game-changing strategic challenge to the UK.
We set out the coordinated campaign we are seeing to re-design the international system. We outlined the scale and breadth of their information acquisition, using not only intelligence officers and cyber hackers but businesspeople and researchers to steal government and commercial information alike. We talked about how organisations can actively protect themselves - while still engaging with the world, including with China.”
On the Chinese Communist Party and British politicians
“And we described the threat to our national and economic security, and to the UK’s political system. We see the Chinese authorities playing the long game in cultivating contacts to manipulate opinion in China’s favour - seeking to co-opt and influence not just prominent Parliamentarians from across the political landscape, but people much earlier in their careers in public life, gradually building a debt of obligation.”
On intimidation of the Chinese diaspora
“Since then, we’ve seen yet more concerning activity. The Chinese authorities use all the means at their disposal to monitor - and where they deem necessary intimidate - the Chinese diaspora. This takes place all over the world, from coercing and forcibly repatriating Chinese nationals to harassment and assault.”
On the Manchester Consulate incident
“This was brought home recently when a pro-democracy protester appeared to be the subject of violence outside the Chinese Consulate in Manchester. We’re seeing further indications of that repression. Recent media coverage has focused on so-called overseas Chinese police stations. But this activity extends to using the United Front Work Department and other front organisations to apply pressure to those challenging the regime’s perceived ‘core interests’ – whether that’s on democracy in Hong Kong or human rights abuses in Xinjiang. We can expect it to increase further as President Xi consolidates power on an indefinite basis.
To intimidate or harass UK nationals or those who have made the UK their home cannot be tolerated.”
On what Government needs to do to help
MI5 has an important part to play in countering these threats. But tackling the whole problem needs a system-wide response. So it’s welcome that government recently announced a taskforce, reaching out cross-party, to focus on protecting our democratic institutions and freedoms. We look forward to working with the Security Minister and partners on it.
On how the Chinese state differs from Iran or Russia
“The Chinese authorities present a different order of challenge. They’re trying to re-write the rulebook, to buy the league, to recruit our coaching staff to work for them. “
On what MI5 expects from the updated Integrated Review
“In an era of renewed contest between democracies and autocracies, what we do in MI5 is one piece of a bigger jigsaw. I expect resilience to feature centrally in the Government’s refresh of its Integrated Review of security. We are playing our full part.”