BBC News Top Stories-Uk James Cleverly refuses to say if he raised Parliament spy claim with China
September 17, 2023 2 min 408 words
这则新闻报道涉及外交与安全问题，涉及英国外交部长詹姆斯·克莱弗利与中国之间的争议。克莱弗利拒绝透露他是否向中国政府提出了关于一名在议会工作的研究员涉嫌为中国从事间谍活动的指控。他声称自己和英国总理已就中国对英国民主的干预与中国领导人进行了谈话，但在被问及是否与北京方面提出了指控时，他表示不会对“安全相关事务”发表评论。 这个报道引发了一些保守党内部的担忧，一些资深保守党议员敦促政府正式将中国列为“威胁”，这是政府一直抵制采取的措施。克莱弗利对来自自己党内的批评回应称，“假装中国不存在不是可信的政策”，并表示英国有许多与中国需要讨论的问题，包括对英国议会议员的制裁，但最好通过“面对面的对话”解决。他还表示，上个月他成为了五年来首位访问中国的外交部长。当被问及在访问之前是否了解议会研究员的逮捕情况时，他表示不会评论。关于他是否与中国官员讨论了这个案件，他再次拒绝置评。 这篇报道反映了英国政府与中国之间复杂的外交关系，以及英国政界对中国崛起和其对英国民主的潜在威胁的担忧。英国政府似乎在谨慎地处理与中国的关系，但也面临来自国内外的压力，要求采取更坚决的立场。这个问题对于国际政治和国家安全具有重要意义，需要谨慎处理。
Watch: We do not comment on intelligence issues - Cleverly
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has refused to say whether he spoke to the Chinese government about a researcher in Parliament who was arrested on suspicion of spying for China.
Mr Cleverly said both he and the PM had spoken to Chinese leaders about "interference in our democracy".
But, asked if he raised the allegations with Beijing, he said he would not comment on "security related matters".
The researcher has said he is "completely innocent".
Last weekend, the Metropolitan Police confirmed that two men had been arrested in March under the Official Secrets Act.
Sources have told the BBC that one of the men had been a parliamentary researcher involved in international affairs issues.
The case has sparked renewed concern among some in the Conservative Party about the government's approach to China.
Senior Tory MPs - including former Prime Minister Liz Truss - have urged the government to officially designate China a "threat" - a step the government has resisted taking.
Asked about the criticism from his own party, Mr Cleverly said: "Pretending China doesn't exist is not a credible policy."
He said there were a number of issues the UK wanted to discuss with China - including its sanctioning of British parliamentarians - but this was best done through "face-to-face conversations".
Last month, Mr Cleverly became the first foreign secretary to visit China in five years.
Asked if he knew about the arrest of a parliamentary researcher prior to the trip, he said he would not comment.
Pressed on whether or not he had discussed the case with Chinese officials, he again refused to say.
He added that both he and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak - when he met the Chinese premier Li Qiang at the G20 summit - had raised Chinese actions which "are seeking to undermine or distort our democracy".
Earlier this week, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused Mr Sunak of failing to "heed the warnings" about China and called for a "full audit" of relations between the two countries.
China has rejected the allegations, with foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning calling it "malicious slander".
The superpower is the UK's fourth largest trading partner but tensions between the two countries have heightened in recent years with concerns about human rights in Hong Kong - a former British colony - and China's neutral stance over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.