"The China spying row has revealed disturbing weaknesses in the processes of the UK state. It cannot be in the national interest for a case involving national security to get so close to the courts and then for it to be abandoned in what remain mysterious circumstances. Public confidence, as well as security itself, are inevitably placed at risk. But this genuinely important issue now risks being blanketed by the fog of the party-political battle at Westminster."
"The main issue is not, in fact, whether China is a security threat to the UK. That is a no-brainer. Many countries, including Britain, spy on their foes and perhaps on some of their friends too. But the threat posed by China reflects its size, wealth and values. Delivering his annual threat update on Thursday, the head of MI5, Sir Ken McCallum, said that he encountered that threat on a daily basis."
The China spying row revealed disturbing weaknesses in UK state processes. A national-security case reached the courts and was abandoned in mysterious circumstances, undermining public confidence and security. Political infighting at Westminster risks obscuring the systemic failings. China poses a real national-security threat to the UK because of its size, wealth and values, and MI5 leadership reports encountering that threat daily. The collapse of the prosecution indicates state failure and exposes governance problems on multiple levels, including outdated law and inadequate procedural arrangements for handling modern espionage cases.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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