Starmer must extract a price for Chinese mega-embassy

The latest warning from MI5 about Chinese spying on UK MPs has created an unexpected opportunity to settle the dispute over China's proposed mega-embassy in London.

- MICHAEL SHERIDAN

Diplomacy is about bargaining. Both sides should be able to have a full and frank exchange about the limits of acceptable behaviour and the rules of engagement. Yet the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) shows little sign of believing any rules apply to it. This is a moment to try to set some.

Former British intelligence officials who have worked on China say its security state has two tasks abroad: to collect secrets and to cultivate influence. Its aim is to weaken political will and divide opponents so that, in a crisis, their alliances may fracture.

The security minister, Dan Jarvis, has called this a “covert and calculated” effort to run interference and espionage against Britain’s democracy - the two objectives often go hand in glove for autocracies. He told parliament the government “will not stand for it”.

Yet for too long it has been unclear exactly what the government will stand up for. The Chinese embassy dismisses concerns as “slander and malicious fabrication”. Its diplomats exploit the ambiguity, particularly after the collapse of a prosecution against two Britons - one a parliamentary researcher - accused of espionage. Both men denied wrongdoing.