cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/44533384

Op-ed by Daniel Kochis, senior fellow at Hudson Institute.

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**A Facebook post or X retweet will get you jail time in the United Kingdom. But accusations of spying for the Chinese Communist Party result in a lighter touch. **

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If China’s undisguised assistance in support of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine or Chinese intellectual property theft were not enough to deem it a threat to national security, consider two other recent striking examples. In March 2024, the U.K. government publicly accused China of hacking its electoral commission in 2021 and 2022. Or consider the consistent targeting of key civilian systems by China.

In 2024, ministers in the U.K. were even informed that Chinese hackers likely compromised critical infrastructure in the country.

Is the Chinese Communist Party a threat now? If Keir Starmer’s government will ignore such brazen espionage, one must wonders from what else his government is averting its eyes.

All this is, of course, happening with the backdrop of China’s plans to construct a new embassy complex on the site of the former Royal Mint. Plans submitted contain several blacked-out areas within the complex, raising real concerns among China’s dissident community in the U.K. that these areas may be intended to unlawfully detain individuals.

As concerningly, the former Royal Mint site sits astride a treasure trove of key information infrastructure: fiber optics cables servicing London financial firms and a telephone exchange serving the city.

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