An MI5 warning that a Chinese Communist Party agent has been operating in Westminster sent ripples of alarm across the country. But it is also notable for another reason. The Lee case represents a crucial shift in the UK’s China strategy, from denial to acceptance.

This is the first time that the Government has mentioned the United Front Work Department (UFWD) being active in the UK, yet for those who have followed China closely, the tawdry details of the Lee case contain few surprises. There is plenty of evidence for how China targets businesses and politicians, or how CCP-affiliated individuals position themselves as voices of diaspora communities across British society, whether in politics or in local community schools. 

What is far more interesting is the shift in the UK’s approach. Why issue a warning now? Even though Lee’s involvement in British politics has been on the radar for at least five years, British security services have previously been apprehensive about publicly linking Beijing to state activities in the UK.

Take the case last year, where it was reported that at least 10,000 British citizens, including staff in virtually every government department, had been targeted by agents posing as LinkedIn recruiters. Despite intelligence agencies being confident that almost all approaches were carried out on behalf of the Chinese state, MI5’s official warning made no specific mention of China.

At last, things are changing. We now recognise the value of publicly naming those trying to harm our interests. The warning shot from MI5 last week comes hot on the heels of MI6 chief Richard Moore identifying China as the agency’s “single greatest priority” for the first time in its history. 

And for the first time, the UK joined its allies in naming Chinese state-sponsored hackers as responsible for the attack on the Microsoft Exchange Servers, which the National Cyber Security Centre called one of the most serious cyber intrusions ever observed. The UK’s new Cyber Strategy is unambiguous. It concludes that ‘how China evolves in the next decade will probably be the biggest single driver of the UK’s future cyber security’.

Public acknowledgement of China’s influence on the UK is an important step in the right direction. For those who follow China closely, this represents a much-needed closing of the gap between what we know about China, and change in British policy.

When it comes to CCP interference, we are inching towards progress. The solution to the problem — in the form of the UK’s new laws to counter state threats — may still be yet to arrive. But we now have a better public understanding of how Beijing has professionalised and streamlined its UFWD work under Xi Jinping, and what that means for Britain.

If we are improving our understanding of CCP interference, we now need to close that gap in other areas. Beijing increasingly relishes blurring the line between the state and society, which means we need to reassess many things which looked fine five years ago. 

This is wide-ranging. We need to look at the strict new laws that Beijing is enforcing on the use of data in China and ask what that means for tech companies like TikTok. We need to look at the rise of China’s digital yuan and work out what that means for the City, and whether we should move faster on plans for a digital pound. And we need to look at Beijing’s increasing control of global shipping networks and ask if Britain should pay more attention to how our goods flow through our ports.

Acknowledging that UFWD targets Britain is a key moment. It makes it easier to discuss how China challenges our interests. It is an essential step on the road to a better China strategy.

Julia Pamilih is Director of Research at the China Research Group