UK Avoids Labeling China as 'Enemy' in Espionage Case Evidence

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain did not label China as an "enemy" in its evidence to prosecutors in an espionage case that has heaped pressure on the prime minister because it was not the policy of the then-Conservative government, the statement's author said on Friday.

Britain's Crown Prosecution Service unexpectedly dropped charges last month against two British men, former parliamentary researcher Christopher Cash and academic Christopher Berry, who were accused of spying for Beijing between 2021 and 2023.

They had denied passing politically sensitive information to the Chinese state. China says the case is entirely fabricated and a malicious slander.

The CPS said the case had been dropped because it needed evidence showing Britain considered China a threat to national security, but the government had not provided it after months of requests.

That statement led to heavy criticism of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government, with opposition politicians accusing ministers of interfering in the case to ensure its collapse and appease China in the hope of improving trade ties.

In a bid to ease that criticism, the government last week published the evidence it sent to prosecutors which detailed Chinese malign activity, but did not unequivocally state that China posed a threat to UK national security.

In a submission to a parliamentary inquiry published on Friday, the deputy national security adviser, Matthew Collins, said he had removed the word enemy from a draft witness statement because it was not government policy in 2023, before Starmer's Labour Party was elected.

The submission, written by Collins and his boss, National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell, said prosecutors were aware that the evidence would not refer to China as an enemy before charges were brought.

Critics of Starmer had also asked when he knew that the case would collapse and what role he had taken in the language provided to prosecutors.

The submission said the final draft was only sent to the then-prime minister, Rishi Sunak, and no minister or special adviser in Starmer's government played any role in the provision of evidence.

Collins and the head of the CPS, Stephen Parkinson, will appear before the inquiry next week. Some Labour lawmakers and former UK security officials have questioned whether the failure of the case lay with prosecutors and not the government.

(Reporting by Kate Holton;Editing by Alison Williams)