A woman rarelly named as a Chinese spy by MI5, the UK’s internal intelligence agency, has taken legal action against the organization. The case was ruled against her by a London court on Tuesday (December 17).
The woman is Christine Ching Kui Lee. She accused MI5 of unlawfully issuing a warning in January 2022 that implicated her in “political interference activities on behalf of the ruling Communist Party of China.”
According to Reuters, the warning was distributed by the Speaker of the House of Commons to Members of Parliament. MI5 stated that Lee had “acted for foreign individuals based in Hong Kong and China to donate to current and prospective MPs.”
Lee is a lawyer born in Hong Kong and runs a consultancy firm in the UK that provides services to Chinese immigrants.
She also helped establish a parliamentary committee chaired by Labour MP Barry Gardiner to discuss issues affecting the British Chinese community.
Gardiner disclosed that he had received donations totaling hundreds of thousands of pounds from Lee and that Lee’s son had worked in his office.