Why has the UK dropped its trial of two alleged China spies?

"Parkinson revealed in a letter to two parliamentary select committees that the CPS had dropped the case because prosecutors had tried and failed to obtain a witness statement from the government stating that China was an enemy and in that, in particular, Beijing posed a current threat to the national security of the UK. Without it, he conceded, the trial of the two men had to be abandoned."

"The prosecutor did not say who failed to make the assertion sought, but the focus is on Downing Street and, in particular, the national security adviser, Jonathan Powell. It had fallen to Matthew Collins, his deputy, to give witness statements in the case, part of evidence from the government setting out the harm alleged by the spying and the wider geopolitical context."

"Efforts were made over many months, Parkinson said, but notwithstanding the fact that further witness statements were provided, none of these stated at the time of the offence China represented a threat to national security. He concluded: When this became apparent, the case could not succeed. Cash, 30, and a friend of his, Christopher Berry, 32, a researcher based in China, were prosecuted under the now repealed 1911 Official Secrets Act."

Prosecutors abandoned a high-profile espionage prosecution after failing to obtain a government witness statement asserting that China was an enemy and posed a current threat to UK national security. The CPS sought such a statement to establish the harm and geopolitical context required for a conviction under the repealed 1911 Official Secrets Act. Matthew Collins provided witness material but none stated that China represented a threat at the time of the alleged offences. Stephen Parkinson concluded that, without the assertion, the case could not succeed, leading to the dropping of proceedings against Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry.

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