China’s intelligence service used a front company to pay grants to British universities and steal crucial research about technology projects, MI5 said on Wednesday in a rare public espionage warning. Britain’s domestic security service said researchers and academics should cease work with the China General Technology Research Institute (CGTRI), sometimes also known as the China Academy of General Technology (CAGT). MI5 believes it poses a “significant threat”.
The Chinese organisation has given money to 100 or more academics at a string of universities across the UK, in return getting access to the research, which it is alleged found its way back to China’s intelligence service. MI5 is now prepared to say publicly that the CGTRI is a front for Chinese intelligence, namely the Chinese ministry of state security (MSS). It said continued collaboration could be prosecuted under the National Security Act 2023.
Areas of research targeted include AI, cybersecurity, covert communications, and the embedding of data in pictures online called steganography. MI5 believes it has clear evidence of sensitive information being passed back to Chinese intelligence. The Guardian understands that as well as research money, some British-based academics were given awards, as in honours, by the Chinese.
Successive British governments have courted Chinese investment and encouraged cooperation. In the alert issued on Wednesday, the Security Service said: “MI5 has identified that the primary purpose of CGTRI is to fund academic research that directly improves MSS technical capability for espionage.” It said that the CGTRI had “very strong ties to the … MSS, China’s civilian intelligence and security service”. It added: “Many academic institutions and individuals will to date have engaged with CGTRI in good faith given CGTRI’s obfuscated links to MSS.
This is to ensure MSS derives no further benefit from UK universities or research institutions. Further, academics are advised to establish the ultimate funding source when conducting any research collaboration with Chinese institutions, to ensure CGTRI is not involved.” The alert warns of “potential criminal consequences”, in a section issued after consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, which authorises criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. It hopes universities will heed the warning and immediately cease their work with the CGTRI.
The Guardian understands that in one case uncovered by MI5, Chinese intelligence officers posed as researchers at a British university, thereby making it easier to pass material of potential value back to Beijing. In another case, Chinese intelligence gained access to cutting-edge British research on scraping social media (searching and retaining useful information from social media sites). The National Security and Investment Act 2021 could prevent a state such as China, assessed as having hostile intent towards the UK, from buying access to the technology on a commercial basis.
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