Why did the China spying case collapse?

The trial of two men accused of spying for China was due to start at London’s Woolwich Crown Court today. Instead, charges against parliamentary researcher Christopher Cash and teacher Christopher Berry were dropped last month in controversial circumstances.

Both men – who maintain their innocence – were charged with violating the Official Secrets Act, which meant prosecutors would have had to prove that they had acted for an “enemy” state. But, according to The Sunday Times, Jonathan Powell, Keir Starmer’s influential national security adviser, said the government’s “star witness” in the case would have to base his evidence on the National Security Strategy 2025 – which describes China as a “geostrategic challenge”, rather than an “enemy”. And so the trial was “doomed”.

What did the commentators say?

In order “not to upset” Beijing, with whom it is pursuing closer ties, the government “fatally undermined” Scotland Yard’s investigation into the suspected espionage, said David Sheppard and Helen Warrell in the Financial Times.

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Viewing the situation in the “most generous” light, the “thawing relationship” between China and the UK could have “undermined the case”, said Caroline Wheeler and Gabriel Pogrund in The Sunday Times. But more cynical critics might say it demonstrates the government’s willingness to “prioritise closer economic links to China over matters of national security”.

The collapse of the case has sparked discontent across “both sides of the political aisle”, said David Hughes in London’s The Standard. Powell is under “renewed pressure to submit to a grilling” over this, and over the national security strategy, said James Tapsfield in the Daily Mail. If he refuses, “he could be held in contempt of Parliament”.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood “insisted there was no ministerial interference in the collapse of the case”, said Tara Cobham in The Independent. Asked if China was an “enemy of the UK”, she told the paper: “China is a challenge.”

What next?

Conservative ministers have “tabled written parliamentary questions” about the matter, “including to Sir Keir directly”, said The Telegraph. These are likely to centre on what role Powell and other ministers “played in the decision” not to proceed to trial.

Tensions around Chinese espionage still loom large. Rumours that the government is considering targeting “parts of China’s security apparatus under foreign influence rules” have triggered a warning from Beijing that it would “retaliate” if that happened, said The Guardian. So far, ministers have “refused to apply stricter foreign influence rules on lobbyists acting for China”.