Woman loses case against UK intel services over China espionage links

A woman accused of "political interference" in the UK on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party lost a legal claim on Tuesday against Britain's domestic intelligence services.

Christine Lee had sued the country's MI5 security services for racial discrimination after they issued an alert in 2022, warning that she was a Chinese agent who had engaged with members of parliament.

The move came after Lee donated £500,000 ($635,000) to Labour MP Barry Gardiner, who headed a now-disbanded China-focused parliamentary group.

Three judges sitting at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal dismissed her claim, ruling MI5 had issued the warning for "legitimate reasons".

The UK government is under pressure to designate China a security threat and abandon a bid to reset ties with Beijing after it emerged another alleged Chinese spy forged close links to Prince Andrew.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has sought greater engagement with China since taking power in July, said Tuesday the UK is "alert" to the "risks and challenges" it poses.

"We do have a strategy of engagement and that means where we co-operate on important issues like climate, we must do so," he also insisted.

Along with her son Daniel Wilkes, Lee had taken her case to the tribunal -- which hears complaints about surveillance by public bodies, primarily the intelligence services -- following the 2022 interference alert.

She argued it was issued for a "political purpose, namely to serve the interests of the Conservative party" which was in power at the time.

At a June hearing, lawyers for Lee said she "categorically" denied the allegations and that issuing the notice was unlawful.

However, the three judges unanimously rejected the claims that Lee and her son had been subjected to inhumane or degrading treatment due to MI5's warning.

"We are not satisfied that it reached the minimum threshold required for a breach," Judge Rabinder Singh wrote in a 41-page ruling.

"We have concluded that the interference alert was issued under domestic law," he added.

"The national security risk posed by Ms Lee was rationally assessed and the issue of the interference alert falls within the national security functions of the Security Service."