Former MI6 man suspected of selling information to Chinese spies

London [UK], September 20 (ANI): A British businessman, formerly of British Secret Intelligence Service MI6, is under investigation for allegedly selling information to undercover spies from China, British media reported citing a White Hall official.

Fraser Cameron, who runs the EU-Asia Centre think-tank, is suspected of passing sensitive information about the European Union to two spies allegedly posing as Brussels-based journalists, BBC reported.

Cameron has worked for the MI6 from 1976 to 1991, said that he has no access to any "secret or confidential information".

A senior Whitehall official, who asked not to be named, told the BBC the investigation had been a long-running joint inquiry between British and Belgian intelligence and claimed that a breakthrough had come in recent months.

In recent years, several countries and organisations around the world have accused China of espionage activities. Beijing relations with many countries including Australia and the US have plummeted due to these activities.

Recently, China's ally Russia has accused the Asian country of spying, Russian authorities have found Valery Mitko, President of its St Petersburg Arctic Social Sciences Academy, guilty of handing over 'classified materials to the Chinese intelligence,' TASS reported. An investigation into the matter has revealed that Mitko passed the information during his visit to China.

According to a report in BBC, every major Chinese enterprise anywhere in the world allegedly has an internal "cell" answerable to the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to drive the political agenda and ensure that the company is compliant with political directives. The CCP has 93 million members, with many of them placed or hidden in organisations abroad. This allows them to be tasked with gathering secrets, especially in the technology sphere, including telecoms.

Many of the Chinese companies like Huawei have been deemed a national security risk by several countries like the US.

Recently, an investigation made the bombshell revelation regarding Chinese company Zhenuha Data. Multiple news organisations around the world reported on what they described as a widespread surveillance operation by a Chinese company targeting prominent people in multiple countries including India and New Zealand. Zhenhua Data, the reports claimed, put together a database with the personal information of over two million people of public interest -- politicians, celebrities, business leaders, prominent military officials and academics. (ANI)