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Политика

China accused of harassing MPs and their families as part of intimidation campaign

Ian Duncan Smith thinks Beijing is watching him. Photo: Ree Schroer. is following their families as part of a campaign of intimidation to keep them from speaking up.

The child of a Conservative MP has allegedly been jeopardized in applying to university due to warnings that that Chinese funding will be cut from the institution, while one politician's child was blown off course when he was banned from flying by a Chinese airline.

Ian Duncan Smith, a former leader of the Conservative Party, told The Telegraph that he believes Beijing is monitoring the movements of his family members, while Alicia Kearns, a fellow regime critic, said she does not rule it out because China «wants to make us feel like they're being watched.»

The senior Conservative MP also said she knew of a colleague whose child's school plans were disrupted because their parent was a politician, under the sanctions of the Chinese state.

She said that a prospective student's application to the university was threatened when the relevant institution was warned that all Chinese funds would be withdrawn if they accepted the application.

It was also alleged that the child of one politician ran into problems after destination. a flight with a Chinese airline when their original trip was cancelled.

They were allegedly banned from boarding the replacement flight because of their last name.

The claims came as The Telegraph spoke to five prominent China critics in Westminster — four Conservative MPs and one colleague — about the pressure they believe they are under to keep them quiet.

Some MPs want a tougher line on President Xi Jinping. Credit: Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images

Parliamentarians, most of whom are under regime sanctions, have reported a cocktail of online abuses laced with threats and sexually offensive language, targeted cyberattacks and organized provocations.

One Chinese critic said he was told his safety could not be guaranteed while traveling to the Middle East due to fears he might be extradited to Beijing, while one was told he was advised not to go on holiday to the European country because they were under sanctions. .

This comes amid an intensifying debate among conservatives about how firmly Rishi Sunak's government should oppose President Xi Jinping's regime.

The Prime Minister took a softer stance on China than expected from Liz Truss, his predecessor, softening his own language, choosing to brand the state as an «epoch-defining challenge» rather than a general «threat» to the UK.

Politicians of all persuasions see the rise of China as one of the biggest geopolitical challenges of the 21st century, and there has been a notable hardening of rhetoric in recent years.

Some of those who spoke to The Telegraph were keen to emphasize that any inconvenience they experienced would be paltry compared to the struggles facing Chinese dissidents. The harsh security crackdown over the past decade has cut off almost all avenues of civilian discourse.

Powerful criticism has been silenced

But their personal accounts nonetheless reveal the potential scope of an alleged attempt at power-based criticism of Beijing. into silence.

Ms Kearns, who is not under sanctions but believes she is on a «hit list» for her reporting on China, was among many who reported incidents of cyberbullying, recounting a flurry of abuse online, including messages warning her that «the time will come» and that she «is going to learn her lesson.»

The head of the China Study Group and Foreign Affairs Committee said she was sent edited photos with explicitly sexual comments from someone what she thought was a Chinese hacker.

She said she suspects that there are people connected to the Chinese state who spend a «massive» amount of time and effort posing as MPs and their acquaintances for months on end to ruin their relationship.

Sir Ian suggested that he was personally the target of a similar campaign, in which someone he claimed to have traced to «the outskirts of Hong Kong» created a fake email impersonating him.

The man, described by Sir Ian as a «wolf warrior», allegedly sought to convince politicians around the world that the former minister, an ardent critic of Beijing, had «renounced» his views and now considered the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to be a «beacon goodness and decency.»

Sanctioned peer Lord David Alton said some of his own emails were «mysteriously» erased from his phone while he suspected someone had spent «an awful lot of time» staging «annoying» attacks on your website.

Mr. Seeley is not under regime sanctions, but he is a member of Sir Ian's Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), which aims to pressure governments around the world to take a tougher stance on Beijing.

In other countries, critics were forced to think twice before embarking on a journey. Beijing's sanctions mean that elected MPs and colleagues and their families are banned from entering China and Hong Kong.

Bob Seeley: «I take reasonable precautions but refuse to overreact.» Photo: Chris McAndrew/UK Parliament

But extra caution appears to be encouraged as officials fear that individuals unpopular with the Chinese regime will face the potential risk of extradition.

Lord Alton recalled an occasion when he was warned that the Foreign Office would not can guarantee his safety if he goes to meet British troops in the Middle East with a parliamentary committee.

“It was necessary for the three of us, members of the committee, to visit our military bases in the Persian Gulf, and we went to Bahrain and Qatar,” he said.

“But the Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned me in advance that they can't guarantee my safety.

«The worry would be that [China] might have an extradition agreement with the country you're visiting and that country might just be comfortable currying favor with the People's Republic of China, perhaps because of the debt on the belt and the way.

Ms Kearns also said people have markers of where they can and cannot travel, and she personally never flies through Chinese territory.

Tim Lawton, Conservative MP for East Worthing and Shoreham , said he had received letters from the Chinese embassy in the past advising him not to attend conferences on Tibet containing «thinly veiled threats.»

All the incidents mentioned by the five politicians are alleged and difficult to prove whether they are connected directly or indirectly with the Chinese state.

Controlled by a rising power,

But they shed light on the extent to which British MPs fear their lives and those of their loved ones are being watched by a rising global power.

Despite the many reports of hostile behavior by critics, there seemed to be no one was stopped by their experience, with Sir Yang insisting that «we will continue for the sake of those who are being persecuted.»

Mr. Seeley also said that politicians in free societies who «think they're being brave» in speaking out against threats abroad «need reality.»

«I take reasonable precautions, but I I refuse to overreact,” he said. .

“In principle, we should speak our version of the truth, and if it offends anyone, so be it.”

A Chinese embassy spokesman dismissed the allegations as “groundless” and “ pure rumours» and a warning against «stirring up rivalry and confrontation.»

«Healthy relations between China and the UK serve the fundamental interests of the two peoples and promote world peace, stability and development,» they said.

Ian Duncan Smith: You have to assume that someone is listening

to this . It is clear that if China wants to get to you, they will get to you. I have personally been harassed by «wolf warriors» — guys we suspect have been set up by the Chinese government to track down «annoying» or «bad» people, or those they find obnoxious.

In this case, someone created a fake email posing as me. We think we were able to track the perpetrator somewhere on the outskirts of Hong Kong.

He wrote around the world to various senators and deputies, people in Australia and America, telling them that I have abandoned my views and no longer thought the Chinese Communist Party was bad. On the contrary, apparently, I now believed that they were the beacon of goodness and decency.

I started getting emails from people all over the world who knew about me, regretting it or asking why I was doing it. I had to explain to them that it was not me at all, but an impostor.

It was at a low level. And it continues — it flares up from time to time, depending on how annoyed the Chinese government is.

The key is to be especially careful with how you handle information.

You should automatically assume at all times that your phone is a two-way listening device. It's nice to know that while these gadgets are clearly useful to us, they can also be useful to others.

We have certain things we do and certain things we don't. If you have serious conversations, put your phone somewhere in a box and put it away. Don't leave your phone on the table.

Bots and denial of service

IPAC, which I founded, also suffered a denial of service attack almost immediately when we were building our first website. We need to be a little careful what we say.

There are also human bots dumping you on Twitter. As for the threats, I was personally identified by the Chinese Embassy in the UK and accused of being a liar and a person who tells lies about Beijing. They post it on their website.

This goes for our families too. This is something that is never reported. Our families are also all under sanctions at the same time.

If they are adults, it means that their lives also need to be rebuilt, which is annoying. This is exactly what should have happened, although they themselves did not participate in this process.

And I know that the Chinese state notes who and where my family is.

We are sanctioned because we are all actively calling for the CCP's many abuses of President Xi, from the genocide of the Uyghur people to slave labor, the persecution of peaceful democracy fighters in Hong Kong and organ harvesting, not to mention their threats to invade Taiwan.

But we will continue for the sake of those who are persecuted, no matter what the threat.

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