Christine Lee, Chinese friend to politicians!

??? MOnica you illustrate the risk so well.

Russia is a failing state, failing economically and losing its worldwide influence. That makes it dangerous, because it is governed by a gangster who is acting like a rat cornered in a barn. He is making threats against everyone and revving his army up to invade neighbours with scant regard for what could ensue.

China is a rising power, economically strong, with a government that plans to take over the world through covert methods.

Empries come and go. We had an empire, it has come and gone, the Americans had an enpire, it is vanishing fast, bu the Americans had a balancing empire to contend with - Russia - and that too is vanishing fast.

China is the up and coming empire, we need to be very vigilant.

The Russians once said that Corbyn was viewed as ‘a useful idiot’.
China will be a far greater threat than Russia for the future of the world.

MaizieD your first sentence makes the point - anyone can set up an APPG and it has already been suggested that there needs to be more control over who finances them as some of them are effectively being used by companies/organisations that support them as mouth pieces, because they will wine and dine and feed information or hide or play down information to memebers to shape their decisions - and if you really think that isn't done already, you are being very naive.

Now think of that in terms of another foreign country, which we know already induges in commercial espionage, cyber disruption and subterfuge and it must be easy to see how the person who pays the money and feeds a lot of information to members of the APPG and uses it to extend their own political networks can use it to influence how members of the APPG and through them others . Remember MPS are ordinary people, some are diligent, work hartd themselves, employ good reearchers and interns and reach their own conclusions. Others are lazy and will just depend on what info is at hand to make decisions, and if someone on an APPAG passes information on to them, that is influenced by the Chinese government and its very charming 'independent' Chinese financer, isn't it easy to reach conclusions on that information.

You know the way you are querying this Maizie makes me think you may be part of the network.

Thanks for so much info Monica

I think what you are saying MaizieD just endorses my point in an earlier post to Calistemon that some posters are so far gone in their hatred of this government that they don’t even want to discuss this matter.
A sort of ‘what Chinese! Oh just one lady’ ....move along nothing to see here attitude.

M0nica

Well said.

The future looks very grim. I may not be here to see it but worry for my DC and DGC.

Anyone can set up an APPG if they have the influence and the money. There are loads of them. The covid denial, antivax group, HART has set one up.

Please explain how an APPG group can 'pervert democracy'?

I'd be a lot more worried about Johnson's links with Russia. And the fact that, according to the Russia report which he had to be forced to reveal, MI5 didn't take much interest...

twitter.com/WriterJackWhite/status/1480249429525516290

The Intelligence and Security Committee said it was “astonishing” no-one in government had sought to protect the electoral processes from potential subversion – and concluded the influence of Russian money in the UK is so pervasive it amounts to a “new normal”.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/russia-report-national-security-summary-details-brexit-elections-boris-a9630241.html

M0nica ditto

Maizie This lady financed an APPG in Parliament called 'Chinese in Britain'. This has now disbanded. It is alleged she was hoping to support and build up pro-Chinese support among Parliamentarians. it was not just a question of money, of offering discrete monetary support to the constituencies of MP's she might be able to influence. It was far more extensive and subtle than just filling war-chests of friendly supporter MP's.

She was not 'one Chinese lady' She was 'one Chinese lady' who was paid and directed by a security agency in China who trained her and directed what she did and provided the money for her generosity to MPs.

She was a networker par excellence in Parliamentary circles as well wider as political circles. She is in effect a saboteur, not one with guns and bombs, but with knowing people, their weaknesses and strengths, carefully dripping information (of the right kind) in peoples ears, their emails and in the media and ensuring that if an APPG friendly to China could be established, it had sufficient finance.

MaizieD
It’s been reported that she/ the Chinese government? believed that Barry Gardiner was going to be the Labour leader and then the prime minister.
I like Barry but he’s what I call dim but nice

I think it's a very strange move.

How has Chinese money 'perverted' our Parliamentary process?

We had a referendum perverted by Russian money; we have Russians with connections to the Russian regime making huge donations to tory MPs and the tory party. We have the son of a member of the KGB elevated to our House of Lords.

And we're worrying about one Chinese lady?

This problem has been known by MI5 for about 5 years and they privately warned Barry Gardiner and he says he had been collaborating with them for some years.

All we are seeing now is the end of the story, when MI5 has taken the unprecedented step of publicly accusing her of trying to pervert our Parliamentary process. A measure that also by its publicity puts China in the spotlight in saying that this is what it is doing, without making a direct accusation through what diplomats would call 'the usual channels', thus no humiliating of the Chinese ambassador, no mutual expulsion of diplomats and none of the other activties that could lead up to a major international incident.

Very clever handling by the British government.

grannyactivist of course you read about this 4 years ago, but this story is the end of the story. The reports four years ago were the start of the story.

Four years ago was probably when Barry Garner started co-operating with MI5, The four years has been spent carefully building up the dossier that led to MI5's unprecedented action this week

It won’t be long before the Chinese “own” a European country: Montenegro.
Montenegro borrowed 1 billion euros to build a road ( don’t ask, it’s complicated) ?
The Chinese screwed them into the ground with the contract. Part of this contract states that if they don’t honour the loan the Chinese will own the port of Bar on the Adriatic coast.
This means the Chinese can start building a military base on the Adriatic.
The gdp of Montenegro is 156 on the list of 196 counties.
They haven’t got a hope in hell of repaying.

It’s been going on for years, the infiltration of universities, telecoms etc. have been widely publicised in the UK, and worldwide there is longstanding concern about democracy being infiltrated too. I agree it’s serious, but it’s not new.
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/06/27/chinas-efforts-undermine-democracy-are-expanding-worldwide/

hear about!!!

I agree Calistemon this is way more serious that parties at Downing Street which is all you ever here about. I am far more concerned about other matters that affect us on a daily basis such as energy costs, the NHS and education as well as this apparent infiltration into our Parliament. Didn’t the MPs concerned have any suspicions or were they just prepared to take the donations without asking any questions. Employing the son of the donator was also at best foolish and unwise.

grannyactivist

I read this story when it first broke at least four years ago, so I believe this is an attempt to keep the PM off the front pages.

Actually just did a 2 second google search and this story first broke in 2017. It is surely not ‘news’ if it’s been known about for five years.

So how come Barry Gardiner allegedly didn't know about it until yesterday?

MI5 informed the speaker yesterday of the Christine Lee situation , who in turn notified all MPs.

None of us are party to any new evidence or threat , however I really cannot go along with the conspiracy theorists who think MI5 have resurrected this to help Mr. Johnson.

I think some posters are so far gone in their hatred of this government that they think anything else politically serious shouldn’t even be discussed actually Calistemon ?
MI5 must have had their reasons ( otherwise it means they are incompetent) but why not warn MP’s from the ‘off’ ?

X posts, I started then DH started chatting about something else.

Some posters on other threads think this news has come out now to deflect from Boris Johnson and the parties at Number Ten.

This has been going on for years with politicians of all parties and is far, far more serious than any boozey parties during lockdown.

I'm surprised posters don't realise that!

Why on earth weren't these politicians warned by MI5?

Dozy lot of beggars can't see beyond the £sd flashing in front of their eyes. No wonder this is a greedy country when you have even more greedy leaders.

I read this story when it first broke at least four years ago, so I believe this is an attempt to keep the PM off the front pages.

Actually just did a 2 second google search and this story first broke in 2017. It is surely not ‘news’ if it’s been known about for five years.

It's no surprise though is it - for decades Russian oligarchs who are friends of Putin have been working their way into British political life and high society.

A few years ago at a fund raiser for the Tory party the wife of a former Russian minister 'won' a tennis match with Boris Johnson for a bid of £160,000.