Former British parliamentary aide accused of spying for China

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Two British men, including a former parliamentary aide, have been charged with spying for China.

Prosecutors said on Monday they had approved charges against Christopher Cash, 29, from Whitechapel, east London, and Christopher Berry, 32, from Witney, Oxfordshire. Cash worked as a parliamentary fellow at Westminster.

Nick Price, head of the CPS' special crime and counter-terrorism unit, said the pair would appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday charged with providing information adverse to China, a foreign country.

Cash and Berry were arrested by police under the Official Secrets Act in March last year, and the files were handed over to the CPS at the end of 2023. The charges were agreed to by Attorney General Victoria Prentice earlier this month.

The CPS alleged that between January 2022 and February 2023, Cathy acquired, collected, recorded, published or communicated information that was calculated to be, could be, or was intended to be useful, directly or indirectly, to an adversary. . Cash was charged with acting with intent prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state.

Berry was charged with the same offenses from December 2021 to February 2023.

The UK government has labeled China a landmark challenge, and Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden recently described China as the greatest nation-based threat to our economic security.

Last fall, Chancellor Rishi Sunak told his Chinese counterpart, Li Qiang, that he had serious concerns about Chinese interference in British parliamentary democracy. China has denied the spying charges.

Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police's counter-terrorism command, said: This was a very complex investigation into very serious allegations.

We have worked closely with the Crown Prosecution Service throughout the investigation, which has led to today's charges against two people.

Cash and Berry could not immediately be reached for comment Monday. Both men were granted bail ahead of a court appearance on Friday. Cash said in a statement released by his attorney last September that he is completely innocent.

Cathy is a former company director of the China Research Group, an organization set up by Conservative lawmakers to examine the long-term challenges and opportunities posed by China.

This included some contact with Alicia Kearns, the Tory chair of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, and Security Minister Tom Tugendhat, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Cathy previously worked at the British Council in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, on China's east coast, according to a short biography of the speaker published on the Council on Geostrategy website.

He is said to have received a master's degree in China and globalization from the Lau China Institute at King's College London and a master's degree in modern history from the University of St. Andrews.

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