MI5 has told UK universities to review any work with the China General Technology Research Institute (CGTRI). It says the institute funds research for China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS). More than 100 UK-linked academics have worked on its projects, according to MI5.
MI5 published the warning on Wednesday as an Espionage Alert. It is the first time MI5 has independently published such an alert, Michael Holden reported for Reuters.
“MI5 has identified that the primary purpose of CGTRI is to fund academic research that directly improves MSS technical capability for espionage,” the alert says.
UK academics have contributed to CGTRI-funded projects on AI, cybersecurity, covert communications systems and steganography, according to MI5. Steganography is the practice of hiding a message inside an ordinary file or object. Its name is sometimes translated as the China Academy of General Technology (CAGT).
Many institutions and academics will have worked with CGTRI in good faith, the alert says. Its links to the MSS were not clear. In some cases, academics may not have known that CGTRI was funding the project. MI5 advises universities to review any current or planned collaboration with the institute immediately.
Risk of prosecution
The alert puts CGTRI’s ties to the MSS in the public domain. It points academics to two offences in the National Security Act 2023. Section 3 covers assisting a foreign intelligence service. Section 17 covers obtaining a material benefit from one.
Under section 3, it is an offence to act in a way likely to materially assist such a service. The person must know, or ought reasonably to know, that this is likely. Anyone who keeps doing CGTRI-funded research should take their own legal advice, MI5 says.
Security minister Dan Jarvis said he had written to all UK university vice-chancellors about ending relationships with the institute.
“This alert exposes attempts by Chinese intelligence to covertly benefit from the expertise and research of our academics,” Jarvis said.
Universities UK, which represents more than 140 institutions, said it was reviewing the alert, Dominic Casciani reported for the BBC.
China rejects the claims
“The accusations made by the UK intelligence agency against the relevant Chinese entity are imaginary and purely fabricated,” the Chinese embassy in London said.
The embassy said it had lodged “solemn representations” with the UK. This week, Proofpoint said suspected Chinese hackers had posed as US AI insiders. A US lawmaker has asked five AI firms how they guard model weights from China. OpenAI said Moonshot-linked users tried to extract its AI reasoning.