Diplomatic Briefing
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Newsline: Diplomatic tensions grow over UK arrest of Hong Kong trade office official
Hong Kong leader John Lee on Tuesday called for full information from British authorities on the arrests of three men, including a manager at a Hong Kong government office in the UK, who were charged with assisting Hong Kong’s foreign intelligence service. Speaking to reporters a day after the men appeared in a British court, Lee confirmed that one of the men, Bill Yuen, was a university classmate who was photographed with Lee in a group graduation photograph in 2002. Lee cited a statement from the Chinese Embassy in London rejecting what it called “the UK’s fabrication” of the case and its “unwarranted accusation” against the Hong Kong government. (https://neuters.de/world/hong-kong-pressures-uk-over-national-security-arrest-trade-office-official-2024-05-14/) The three men are charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service between December 2023 and May 2024 by “agreeing to undertake information gathering, surveillance and acts of deception” in Britain. Britain’s foreign ministry summoned the Chinese ambassador to say that espionage and cyber attacks weren’t acceptable. The Chinese Embassy earlier said the case could jeopardise China-UK relations amid lingering tensions over a sweeping national security crackdown in Hong Kong, a former British colony which returned to Chinese rule in 1997. The three are also charged with conducting “foreign interference” by forcing entry into a residential home. All the offences fall under the UK’s National Security Act, which introduced new measures last year against foreign threats, including espionage and interference. The charges do not name the specific Hong Kong intelligence service.
Newsline: Britain summons Chinese ambassador over Hong Kong spying charges
Britain’s foreign ministry summoned the Chinese ambassador on Tuesday to state that espionage and cyber attacks were not acceptable on UK soil after three men were charged with spying for Hong Kong. David Cameron, Britain’s foreign minister, instructed his officials to call Chinese Ambassador Zheng Zeguang for a meeting to condemn what the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said was Chinese-backed activity in Britain. “The FCDO was unequivocal in setting out that the recent pattern of behaviour directed by China against the UK including cyber attacks, reports of espionage links and the issuing of bounties is not acceptable,” the statement said. (https://neuters.de/world/uk/britain-summons-chinese-ambassador-over-hong-kong-spying-charges-telegraph-2024-05-14/) The FCDO said the ambassador was summoned after three men appeared in a London court on Monday charged with assisting Hong Kong’s foreign intelligence service in Britain – offences under the UK’s National Security Act. In the U.S. and across Europe there has been increasing anxiety about China’s alleged cyber and espionage activity.
Newsline: Britain summons Chinese charge d’affaires
Britain on Tuesday summoned the chargé d’affaires of the Chinese Embassy in London after accusing Chinese state-backed hackers of stealing data from Britain’s elections watchdog and carrying out a surveillance operation against parliamentarians. Britain said the Chinese hackers stole the voter registration data — mostly names and addresses — of about 40 million people from the Electoral Commission and tried to break into lawmakers’ emails. “The (Foreign Office) set out the government’s unequivocal condemnation of Chinese state-affiliated organisations and individuals undertaking malicious cyber activity against UK democratic institutions and parliamentarians,” a spokesperson for Britain’s Foreign Office said in a statement. China has denied the spying allegations. The Chinese embassy in London said on Monday the claims said the claims were ”completely fabricated” and it will make “a justified and necessary response”. (https://neuters.de/world/uk/britain-summons-chinese-charge-daffaires-over-cyber-row-2024-03-26/) The British government has previously said it would be inappropriate to call China a “threat” because it is too simplistic to view relations with the world’s second biggest economy through a single word.
Newsline: U.S. Embassy in London discusses the perfect ‘cuppa’
The “special relationship” between Britain and the United States came under pressure this week when a U.S. academic had the cheek to suggest adding salt to tea, sparking a flurry of diplomatic banter. A “cuppa” tea is a national institution in Britain, about as British as the royal family, pubs and fish and chips, so when American chemist Michelle Francl claimed a pinch of salt was required for the perfect brew, it caused quite a stir. Keen to repair the damage to relations with its closest ally, the U.S. Embassy in London stepped in. “We want to ensure the good people of the UK that the unthinkable notion of adding salt to Britain’s national drink is not official United States policy. And never will be,” the embassy said on X. “Let us unite in our steeped solidarity and show the world that when it comes to tea, we stand as one.” The tongue-in-cheek post ended by saying the embassy would continue to make tea “the proper way” – by using a microwave. Britain’s Cabinet Office, responsible for overseeing the operation of government, could not resist the fun. “We appreciate our Special Relationship, however, we must disagree wholeheartedly… Tea can only be made using a kettle,” it said. (https://neuters.de/world/storm-teacup-us-britain-banter-over-perfect-cuppa-2024-01-25/) The quips come 250 years after the Boston Tea Party, when taxes on tea imposed by Britain on its colonies caused a very real split between the two sides, and Americans threw chests of tea into Boston Harbour. War for independence followed.
Newsline: Albania’s new ambassador to the UK said to be an illegal immigrant
Albania’s new envoy to the UK entered the country illegally in 1998 and made a bogus asylum claim, the Daily Mail reported. Uran Ferizi is an illegal immigrant himself, the Daily Mail claimed. Citing “multiple sources,” the paper described how the ambassador stowed away on a truck crossing the English Channel in 1998, arriving in Dover without any identification documents and falsely telling authorities that he was a refugee fleeing the war in Kosovo. Ferizi, who was 17 at the time, was allowed to stay in Britain while his case was assessed. He married a British woman just two years later and was then granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK, followed by British citizenship. A computer scientist who worked in the financial sector, Ferizi has no experience in the diplomatic service. “It’s not diplomatically, morally or ethically right for someone who entered the UK illegally to be appointed ambassador,” a former Albanian foreign minister, Edith Harxhi, told the Mail, adding that “the migration crisis must be taken seriously.” The former Albanian foreign minister estimates that more than a million Albanians left for the UK over the last decade, viewing Britain as “a welfare state for the unskilled.” (https://www.bignewsnetwork.com/news/274075177/albanias-new-ambassador-to-the-uk-is-an-illegal-immigrant-media) Uran Ferizi was last week accepted by the UK Foreign Office as Albania’s ambassador to Britain, despite having no diplomatic experience. Almost half of all illegal immigrants that reached the UK by sea in the latter half of 2022 are reportedly from Albania. London and Tirana have recently signed a deal to fast-track deportations.
Newsline: UK 75-year-old pensioner faces jail for throwing red paint over the Israeli embassy
A pensioner is facing jail after admitting throwing red paint over the Israeli embassy on Armistice Day. John Harvey is one of 386 people arrested in London alone relating to the conflict in Gaza since the Hamas attacks of October 7. The 75-year-old was arrested outside the embassy by Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command officers after he launched a tin of paint at the building’s front gate, covering himself in the process. He pleaded guilty to criminal damage at Westminster Magistrates’ Court and will be sentenced on December 14. (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12777905/Pensioner-admitted-throwing-red-paint-Israeli-embassy-Armistice-Day-jail.html) It comes as officers swoop on a number of other suspects accused of offences including spraying pro-Palestine graffiti, showing support for Hamas online and shouting antisemitic slurs at people in a Jewish community.
Newsline: UK foreign office concerned at disruption to Indian diplomat’s visit
A British government minister expressed concern on Saturday that a visit by a senior Indian diplomat to a Sikh temple in Glasgow had been disrupted by protesters the day before. “The safety and security of foreign diplomats is of utmost importance and our places of worship in the UK must be open to all,” junior foreign office minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said in a post on social media. Long-standing tensions between some Sikhs and the Indian government have increased since Canada earlier this month linked the killing of a Sikh separatist advocate near Vancouver to Indian government agents – allegations which India has dismissed as “absurd”. India’s embassy to Britain issued a statement on Saturday saying its top diplomat Vikram Doraiswami and another senior official had been due to meet community leaders at a Sikh gurdwara or place of worship on Friday in Glasgow, Scotland’s largest city. It said three protesters – whom it described as “non-local extremist elements” – threatened its diplomats and one tried to open the door of Doraiswami’s car, prompting the officials to abandon the visit. (https://neuters.de/world/uk/uk-minister-concerned-disruption-indian-diplomats-glasgow-visit-2023-09-30/) A spokesperson for Scotland’s police force said officers had been called to a report of a disturbance near the gurdwara, but there were no injuries. Enquiries were ongoing and no arrests had been made, police added.
Newsline: Police officer suspended for passing information to Algeria’s London embassy
A Metropolitan Police officer has been suspended for allegedly passing secret information to Algerian officials after starting an illicit relationship with a member of staff at the country’s London embassy. The officer, whose name and rank has not been disclosed because of his “role” in the force, will face misconduct proceedings later this year. It is alleged that following an investigation, in which he acted as community engagement, he began an “improper relationship with a member of staff at the Algerian Embassy” based in Fitzrovia. It took place between March 2019 and December 2020 and the “contact was not correctly reported or recorded”, police said. The Met said: “The officer passed information to members of staff at the Algerian Embassy without a proper policing purpose and should not have done so.” (https://ca.news.yahoo.com/met-officer-suspended-passing-algerian-101457816.html) He is also accused of viewing crime reports relating to his neighbour without reason. If proven the conduct would amount to gross misconduct, the force said. A Met Police spokesman confirmed to the Standard that the anonymous officer has been suspended from duty. The Algerian Embassy did not respond to a request for comment.
Newsline: Diplomats in London owe £150m in congestion charges
Foreign diplomats in London owe nearly £150 million in congestion charge debt. (https://news.yahoo.com/diplomats-london-owe-150m-congestion-172345401.html) Since the introduction of London’s congestion charge in 2003, diplomats have claimed that it is a tax – making them exempt from paying it. As of December 2022 the US embassy owes the largest debt, more than £14 million. It is followed by the Japanese embassy, which has racked up more than £10 million in unpaid charges. The Office for the High Commissioner for India owes £8.5 million, while the Chinese embassy owes nearly £8 million. The Russian embassy owes just under £6 million.
Newsline: UK top diplomat concedes disagreements with China
London wants a pragmatic relationship with China but will remain “clear-eyed” about areas of disagreement, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in Beijing on Wednesday. Cleverly is the first senior British minister in five years to visit China, a trip that he hopes will reset ties between the two countries after years of tension over security, investment and human rights concerns. The foreign secretary has argued it would be a mistake to isolate the world’s second-largest economy or tackle climate change without its input, but some Conservative lawmakers say the trip looks like an expression of British weakness. “We are clear-eyed about the areas where we have fundamental disagreements with China and we raise those issues when we meet,” he told broadcasters. (https://neuters.de/world/uk-clear-eyed-about-disagreements-with-china-cleverly-says-2023-08-30/) China Vice President Han Zheng told Cleverly at their meeting that he hoped the two countries could make new advances in their relations. Cleverly will hold a meeting with his counterpart Wang Yi later.
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