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UK: Foreign Secretary says China does pose security threat to Britain, says she is ‘deeply frustrated’ at collapse of spy trial after Labour refuses to call Beijing an enemy

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Yvette Cooper admitted the UK faced a “whole series” of risks from Beijing, days after the chief prosecutor said a case against two alleged spies collapsed because the Government had failed to brand China a threat to national security.

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Ms Cooper was asked whether, during her time at the Home Office, she saw a dossier outlining the fact that China had frequently been referred to as a threat to Britain’s national security.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Let me be clear that we know China poses threats to UK national security from things like transnational repression and espionage to hostile cyber activity as well, and we have said so.

“And they also of course are a trading partner and they are a crucial partner in the process for example on tackling climate change. But I am deeply frustrated about this case because I of course wanted to see it prosecuted.”

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Christopher Cash, 30, and Christopher Berry, 33, had been accused of passing foreign policy information to a high-ranking member of the Chinese government, charges that were denied by both men.

A Whitehall investigation into Chinese spying was also suppressed by Jonathan Powell, the national security adviser, after lobbying from the Treasury.

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China sceptics have long called on successive governments to formally shift their diplomatic stance and call China a threat to reflect concerns around security, surveillance and human rights abuses.

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Chinese state-backed hackers targeted the Electoral Commission and accessed the voting records of 40 million people from August 2021. The breach was not identified until more than a year later.

China was also blamed for hacking the Ministry of Defence in May 2024, with hackers gaining access to payroll information including bank details, names and addresses.