LONDON, England
China has lashed out at media reports alleging a man who was arrested on suspicion of espionage was gathering intelligence for Beijing, labelling the claim a "political farce".
United Kingdom police said
over the weekend that they had arrested a man in his twenties at his home in
Edinburgh for spying, with the Sunday Times reporting he was a researcher
in Britain's parliament.
Officers from the Metropolitan
Police Service arrested him, and another man in his thirties, in March on
suspicion of offences under the Official Secrets Act and both have been bailed
until October.
The arrests led British Prime
Minister Rishi Sunak to tell Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the G20
summit in New Delhi that he had "very strong concerns" about
Beijing's "interference" in democracy.
Asked about the media reports
that the British pair were "arrested on suspicion of providing
intelligence to China", a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in London
said it was "malicious slander".
"The claim that China is
suspected of 'stealing British intelligence' is completely fabricated and
nothing but malicious slander," the spokesperson said in a statement
published late Sunday.
"We firmly oppose it and
urge relevant parties in the UK to stop their anti-China political manipulation
and stop putting on such self-staged political farce."
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