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“Their aim is to collect information and lay the groundwork for long-term relationships, using professional networking sites, recruitment agents and consultants acting on their behalf,� he said.

MI5 issued the alert because the activity was “targeted and widespread,� he added.

The alert named two women, Amanda Qiu and Shirly Shen, and said other similar recruiters' profiles were acting as fronts for espionage.

Home Office Minister Dan Jarvis said that apart from parliamentary staff, others including economists, think tank consultants and government officials have been similarly targeted.

“This activity involves a covert and calculated attempt by a foreign power to interfere with our sovereign affairs in favor of its own interests, and this government will not tolerate it," Jarvis told Parliament.

British intelligence officials have in recent years steadily ramped up their warnings about espionage threats from China, the U.K.’s third largest trading partner.

Jarvis said the government is rolling out a series of measures to tackle the risk, including investing 170 million pounds ($224 million) to renew encrypted technology used by civil servants to safeguard sensitive work. Opposition parties say authorities are not doing enough and are too wary of jeopardizing trade ties with China.

Spying charges dropped in September

The latest warning came after critics widely questioned how the prosecution of two men in Britain collapsed just before they were due to stand trial.

Academic Christopher Berry and parliamentary researcher Christopher Cash were that could be “prejudicial to the safety or interests� of the U.K. Their case was in September.

The Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson said it was because the government refused to testify under oath that China was a threat to national security at the time of the alleged offenses, between 2021 and 2023. Prime Minister has denied claims of government interference in the case.

In January 2022, the Security Service issued a similar security alert to all lawmakers warning that a in “political interference activities in the U.K.� in coordination with the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department, an organization known to exert Chinese influence abroad.

The lawyer, Christine Lee, was accused of facilitating covert donations to British parties and legislators “on behalf of foreign nationals.�

told reporters last month that Chinese state actors present a national security threat to the U.K. “every day.�

McCallum said Beijing-backed meddling has included cyberespionage, stealing technology secrets and “efforts to interfere covertly in U.K. public life.�