UK “reviewing” increasing checks on figures working for Chinese government

London: British Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said the government were “reviewing” increasing checks on figures working for the Chinese government in the UK.

Several MPs called for China to be classed in the “enhanced tier” of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, introduced earlier this year.

Adding countries to this creates additional reporting requirements for China-linked organisations.

Senior Tory backbenchers, including former prime minster Liz Truss and ex-Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, have called for the government to officially designate China as a threat to the UK – a move so far resisted by ministers.

Speaking in the Commons, Mr Dowden said there was a “strong case to be made” for this, but the government was “currently reviewing” which countries to add to the registration scheme.

He added that ministers were “clear eyed” about the challenges posed by China, but added it was not realistic to “completely disengage” with the country.

News of the arrests was first reported in the Sunday Times, which claimed the researcher had links to several Conservative MPs, including Security Minister Tom Tugendhat and Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman Alicia Kearns.

Mr Tugendhat is said to have had only limited contact with the man, and no dealings with him as a minister.

The arrest of the researcher has renewed a debate among MPs about whether the UK should take a stricter approach to China.

China is the UK’s fourth largest trading partner, and British ministers regularly highlight the need to work with the country on big international issues such as tackling climate change.

But relations have soured in recent years over a series of issues, including threats to civil liberties in the former British colony of Hong Kong and China’s support for Russia during the war in Ukraine.