By Sam Tobin
LONDON (Reuters) – A woman branded a Chinese agent by Britain’s domestic intelligence service MI5 is suing the agency in a bid to clear her name, with her lawyers on Tuesday trying to compel MI5 to disclose why it warned lawmakers about her.
MI5 sent out an alert about Christine Lee in January 2022, alleging she was “involved in political interference activities” in the United Kingdom on behalf of China’s ruling Communist Party.
House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle, who circulated MI5’s alert to lawmakers, said MI5 had found that Lee “has facilitated financial donations to serving and aspiring parliamentarians on behalf of foreign nationals based in Hong Kong and China”.
Lee denies the allegations and is now taking legal action against MI5 at a London tribunal, seeking unspecified damages for alleged breaches of her human rights.
Her lawyer Tony Muman told the Investigatory Powers Tribunal on Tuesday that the so-called interference alert issued by MI5 was the first such alert issued in “at least 80 years”.
He said Lee was unaware any such alert had been issued until she saw media reporting of her having been “branded an enemy of the state”.
“There has been a serious and public attack on (Lee’s) reputation without any prior finding of guilt,” he said in court filings. “Her claim is that she is a victim of the state’s actions and she seeks to protect her fundamental rights.”
Tuesday’s hearing concerned Lee’s application for disclosure from MI5, relating to any factual findings the agency made about her alleged interference in British politics.
Lawyers representing MI5 argued in court filings that no further disclosure to Lee was required.
The agency’s lawyer Rosemary Davidson said the interference alert was issued “to protect parliamentary democracy from the threat posed by foreign political interference”.
(Reporting by Sam Tobin)
