Children of UK Politicians Targeted in China-Linked Intimidation Campaigns

Conservative MP Alicia Kearns, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, speaks during a debate on the Procurement Bill in Parliament, Westminster, London, on Jan. 9, 2023. Screenshot via The Epoch Times

Sinister intimidation campaigns targeting the children of UK politicians are emanating from China, according to reports.

The Telegraph reported that MPs now fear that Beijing is actively monitoring their families after publicly criticising the regime.

One Tory politician had their child’s university place jeopardised over warnings Chinese funding would be pulled from the institution, while the child of another politician was blocked from travelling with a Chinese airline.

Former Tory party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith told the publication he believes Beijing is not only keeping tabs on his movement, but that of his family members as well.

He has even resorted to locking his phone in a box, away from “serious conversations” over fears his phone might be a “two way listening device.”

The MP said he has also been subjected to coordinated bot attacks and targeted by “wolf warriors”—individuals believed to be set up by the Chinese regime to track “annoying” or “bad” people.

In one elaborate email hoax, a Hong King-based individual mailed politicians and political acquaintances pretending to be the senior Tory.

Tory colleague Alicia Kearns told the newspaper she believes she is on a China “hit list” owing to her record speaking out on Beijing.

Kearns, head of both the China Research Group and the Foreign Affairs Committee, has previously reported incidents of online intimidation and abuse linked to her stance on China, Monday’s report said.

The MP also told the newspaper how she had been sent edited photos of herself paired with sexually explicit comments by someone she believed to be a Chinese hacker.

She said she suspected there were individuals linked to the Chinese state spending “enormous” amounts of time and effort impersonating MPs and their acquaintances for months on end with a view to souring their relationships.

Email Impostor

Writing in a separate editorial piece for The Telegraph, Duncan Smith said: “It is clear that if China wants to get to you, they’ll get to you.

“I’ve personally been targeted by ‘wolf warriors’—guys we suspect are set up by the Chinese government to track ‘annoying’ or ‘bad’ people, or those they consider a nuisance.

“On this occasion someone created a fake email persona purporting to be me.

“We think we were able to track the culprit to somewhere on the outskirts of Hong Kong.”

The Tory politician said emails purporting to be from him were sent “all over the world” to various senators and MPs telling them he no longer believed that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was bad. “In fact, quite the contrary, apparently I now believed that they were a beacon of goodness and decency,” he wrote.

“I started getting emails from people from around the world who knew of me saying they were sorry to hear it, or asking me why I was doing this.

“I had to explain to them that it was not me at all but an impostor.”

Describing the email hoax as “low level,” the MP said similar attacks erupt “every now and then.”

Describing how his family has been targeted, the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China founder said: “That’s the bit that never gets reported. Our families are all sanctioned as well, at the same time.

“If they’re grown-ups, that means their lives also have to be readjusted, which is annoying.

“That is exactly what has had to happen, even though they themselves were not involved in this process.

“And I am aware that the Chinese state notes who and where my family are.”

Duncan Smith said China’s sanctions on him and other MPs relate to actively calling out “the many abuses of President Xi [Jinping]’s CCP, from genocide of the Uyghur people to slave labour, persecution of peaceful Hong Kong democracy campaigners and organ harvesting, not to mention their threats to invade Taiwan.”

He added, “But we will carry on for the sake of those being persecuted, regardless of any threat.”

Undated file photo of former Conservative Party leader, MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith. Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA Media

Beijing Fears

Kearns, who hasn’t been sanctioned by China, said she knew of one colleague whose child’s study plans had been threatened because their parent was a politician listed on the Chinese state sanction list.

She told the newspaper that the prospective student’s university bid was threatened when the institution in question was warned all Chinese funds would be withdrawn if they accepted the application.

The newspaper also reported claims that one politician’s child ran into trouble after being assigned a flight with a Chinese airline when their original journey was cancelled.

They were allegedly barred from getting on the plane for the replacement trip because of their surname.

One China critic said he was told his safety could not be guaranteed on a trip to the Middle East over fears he could be extradited to Beijing, while one was said to have been advised against going on holiday to a European country because they had been sanctioned.

The newspaper said some politicians had criticised Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s “softer” stance on China compared to predecessor Liz Truss.

In March Sunak said the UK would continue working with Beijing on issues like climate change, but insisted that his government would work with allies to “push back” against China when necessary.

He said China’s plans to “reshape the world order” represent an “epoch defining challenge” for Britain, but stopped short of categorising Beijing as a threat.