MI5 Warns UK Universities Over Chinese Front Company, Cites Espionage Risk

MI5 said the Chinese organisation had used a front company to pay grants to British universities and steal crucial research on technology projects. According to the alert, CGTRI’s primary purpose is to fund academic research that directly improves the technical capability of China’s Ministry of State Security for espionage. MI5 said CGTRI has very strong ties to the MSS, China’s civilian intelligence and security service.

The organisation has given money to 100 or more academics at a string of universities across the UK, in return for access to research that is alleged to have found its way back to Chinese intelligence. MI5 believes it has clear evidence of sensitive information being passed back to Chinese intelligence. The areas targeted include artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, covert communications and steganography, the embedding of data in pictures online. The Guardian reported that, as well as research money, some British-based academics were given awards, as in honours, by the Chinese.

MI5 said it was prepared to say publicly that CGTRI is a front for Chinese intelligence, namely the MSS. It said continued collaboration could be prosecuted under the National Security Act 2023. The alert, issued after consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, warns of potential criminal consequences. It states that academic institutions, staff and researchers should be aware of the 2023 act, particularly offences under section 3, assisting a foreign intelligence service, and section 17, obtaining a material benefit from a foreign intelligence service.

In the alert, 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 advised UK academic institutions to immediately review any ongoing or planned collaboration with CGTRI to ensure the MSS derives no further benefit from UK universities or research institutions. It also advised academics to establish the ultimate funding source when conducting research collaboration with Chinese institutions, to ensure CGTRI is not involved.

Security minister Dan Jarvis demanded that universities end ties to CGTRI. He said: “This alert exposes attempts by Chinese intelligence to covertly benefit from the expertise and research of our academics, undermining our national security and that of our allies.” Jarvis said he had written to all university vice-chancellors to ensure they support staff in ending all arrangements with the company, prevent further benefit to Chinese intelligence services and ensure compliance with the National Security Act. He added that international partnerships are vital for universities and research institutes, but the government would take robust action against the threats it faces.

MI5 has decided on a deterrence strategy through the public alert rather than pursuing every single case, given the scale of Chinese state espionage targeting the UK. It hopes universities will heed the warning and immediately cease work with CGTRI. The Guardian reported that in one case uncovered by MI5, Chinese intelligence officers posed as researchers at a British university, making it easier to pass material of potential value back to Beijing. In another, Chinese intelligence gained access to cutting-edge British research on scraping social media. The National Security and Investment Act 2021 could prevent a state assessed as having hostile intent towards the UK, such as China, from buying access to technology on a commercial basis.

The alert lands at a time when UK-China cooperation is enjoying a revival and British higher education institutions remain financially stretched. The UK is one of the leading countries partnering with China’s higher education sector. In May, China’s education ministry announced 219 new transnational education partnerships, with more than one-fifth of approvals involving British universities, putting the UK at the top of the list of partner countries ahead of Russia, France and Italy. Chinese students are the largest group of non-EU international students in the UK, generating around £600m per year for the higher education sector.

Concern about such partnerships has been growing. The 2023 Intelligence and Security Committee report on China said UK academic institutions “provide a rich feeding ground for China to achieve both political influence and economic advantage” and flagged the risk of China directing or stealing UK academic research. This year, the National Cyber Security Centre warned businesses about Beijing-backed attempts to hack into everyday devices such as wifi routers. Last year, MI5 issued another China-related security alert, warning parliamentarians about approaches from two LinkedIn profiles thought to be linked to Chinese intelligence.

Analysts said the warning left universities and researchers facing difficult judgments. Sam Goodman, senior policy director at the China Strategic Risks Institute, said UK academics were “between a rock and a hard place” when navigating areas of advanced interest that could attract Chinese intelligence. He said there was a lack of coherent government direction on artificial intelligence and it was not clear what levels of collaboration with China were permitted. Charles Parton, a senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said issuing warnings was all very well but that a more important consideration was which technologies can be cooperated on with China and which cannot. He said naming specific Chinese companies as a risk would not help UK researchers carry out due diligence on every potential partnership. Meia Nouwens, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said more clarity was needed to guide researchers in sensitive fields. She said that in the past there had not been much discussion of what areas of research constitute a national security risk, and that without understanding the limits of what the UK seeks to protect, it was impossible to have a conversation about managing risk. Nouwens also noted that any research institution in China is ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, and that institutes conducting research in areas of strategic interest such as technology will have oversight from the party-state.