China Will Exploit Britain’s Refusal to Name It an Enemy

A major espionage case against British nationals who were formerly alleged to be spies collapsed last month because prosecutors could not find UK government witnesses willing to testify that China represented a “threat to national security”—the legal threshold for prosecuting espionage. Even worse, despite knowing now the importance of making this pronouncement, the UK government still maintains its silence on China.

Winston Churchill would be appalled at his successors’ unwillingness to call out hostile intelligence gathering out of fear of economic blowback. The UK’s use of diplomatic euphemisms has become a strategic liability that China will continue to expertly exploit unless the UK government makes a change.

Under the UK’s Official Secrets Act, prosecutors must prove information was useful to an “enemy,” which the courts have established means “a country which represents at the time of the offence, a threat to the national security of the UK.” Prosecutors spent months seeking evidence that Chinese espionage represented a threat to national security. But the previous government characterized it as an “epoch-defining and systemic challenge.” In the end, not only did this case collapse, but the failed prosecution grants effective immunity for any espionage conducted by China between 2021 and 2023.

This paralysis directly threatens Britain’s technology sector as China has penetrated every major and future-focused sector—semiconductors, AI, quantum, and universities. Under the National Security and Investment Act, the UK government blocks roughly 4 in 10 attempted Chinese investments in semiconductors, AI, and quantum computing on national security grounds. Yet it won’t formally state that China is a threat when prosecuting alleged espionage targeting the exact same technologies. The incoherence is glaring: The UK rightly scrutinises Chinese commercial deals, but it grants China effective immunity for intelligence operations.

British firms and academic institutions (as well as democratic institutions) face a systematic Chinese threat via recruitment efforts, research partnerships, and IP extraction. Yet the recent collapsed espionage prosecution sends a devastating message: The government lacks the resolve to defend British economic security interests in court.

Successive UK governments—Conservative and Labour—have refused to formally designate China as a national security threat, even as MI5 publicly warns of Chinese espionage “on a pretty epic scale.” This isn’t legal confusion; it’s calculated capitulation to economic leverage.

What constrains British policy is supply-chain dependency: UK semiconductor, AI, and clean energy sectors rely on Chinese rare earth processing, component manufacturing, and critical technology inputs. Beijing could strangle UK technology competitiveness through targeted supply restrictions—as it demonstrated when it slapped Australia with billions in trade sanctions after Canberra requested a COVID inquiry.

Quite grimly, the UK is discovering it has been playing a different game than China. China has systematically engineered—not for profit, but for strategic advantage—economic dependency. Britain outsourced much of its industrial capacity to the nation now conducting espionage against it, creating a hostage situation where clear threat designation risks provoking a suffocating economic attack. As a result, the need to maintain uninterrupted Chinese supply chains has taken precedence over clearly articulating the threat China’s intelligence operations pose to British innovation.

The policy failure is bipartisan. The previous government chose euphemism—an “epoch-defining challenge,” a “top priority,” and a “complex partner”—and the current government similarly refuses to unequivocally state China is a threat. Both prioritise catering to Beijing’s sensitivities over Britain’s security interests.

Admiral Nelson’s signal at Trafalgar declared, “England expects every man to do his duty”—England does not expect them, nor should it want them to do Beijing’s bidding. If Britain won’t prosecute alleged espionage targeting its democracy, it won’t muster the resolve for economic and technology competition. China respects resolve, not timidity.