Beijing protests British questioning of Chinese travellers and device seizures

Beijing has formally protested British border officials’ questioning of Chinese travellers and seizure of electronic devices, according to slguardian.org. The outlet says the Chinese embassy reported that affected travellers were told the measures relied on provisions of the United Kingdom’s Counterterrorism and Border Security Act 2019.

Beijing characterised the actions as arbitrary and called on Britain to halt them. The British officials cited by the embassy maintained that they had acted under the 2019 law. The account does not identify the travellers, say how many were questioned, or detail what devices were seized.

It reports the embassy’s description of the officials’ explanation rather than providing a separate account from the British authorities. The complaint followed MI5 allegations of Chinese intelligence activity in Britain, slguardian.org reports. Around a week before the latest embassy statement, MI5 director general Ken McCallum identified China in his annual threat update.

He accused China of engaging in “espionage, coercion or democratic interference”. In a briefing described as taking place last Tuesday, McCallum also said MI5 had issued an espionage alert to the British academic community. He said it concerned a specific Chinese entity that presented itself as a conventional research organisation.

The account does not name the entity or provide details about the alert’s recipients beyond the academic community. McCallum said: “We shouldn’t be astounded by attempts to spy on us.” His remarks and the alert are the stated intelligence context for the embassy’s complaint; the account does not establish that they were the reason for the border measures.

Beijing’s objection, as described by the outlet, centres on the questioning and device seizures, while British officials’ position is that the measures were carried out under domestic law.

The outlet’s account leaves the two positions in view: Beijing wants Britain to stop the reported measures, and the British officials cited by the embassy maintain that they acted within the law. The account does not state whether Britain has agreed to halt the measures or whether the complaint has led to any further decision.