MI5 warns UK universities over CGTRI links, China calls claim fabricated

New Delhi: Britain’s domestic intelligence agency MI5 has warned UK universities about their links with the China General Technology Research Institute (CGTRI), alleging that the institute has strong ties to China’s ministry of state security (MSS). The alert has raised concerns over research collaborations that MI5 says could benefit Chinese intelligence.

In its espionage alert, MI5 said CGTRI, also known as the China Academy of General Technology (CAGT), funds research that can improve the MSS’s technical capabilities for espionage. The institute has funded work in areas including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, covert communications systems and steganography.

More than 100 UK-linked academics have worked on research projects funded by the MSS through CGTRI, according to MI5. Some of them may not have been aware that CGTRI was funding the projects.

The agency said the concern is that research in these areas could give Chinese intelligence access to knowledge and technology that may support espionage. It said this makes CGTRI a national security concern for Britain.

According to the alert, many universities and researchers may have worked with CGTRI because its links to the MSS were not clear earlier. MI5 has now asked academic institutions to review all ongoing and planned cooperation with CGTRI and check whether the institute is involved.

Academics working with Chinese institutions have also been advised to find out where their research funding ultimately comes from. MI5 said this is important because CGTRI’s involvement may not always be clear to researchers working on a project.

The agency has advised universities to use guidance from the UK government’s research collaboration advice team and the national protective security authority when assessing such partnerships. It has also urged institutions and researchers to consider independent legal advice if they continue working on research ultimately funded by CGTRI.

The alert also drew attention to the UK’s National Security Act 2023, particularly Section 3, which covers assisting a foreign intelligence service, and Section 17, which covers obtaining a material benefit from one. MI5 said universities and researchers should understand these provisions before continuing work linked to CGTRI.

MI5 said anyone continuing to work on research ultimately funded by CGTRI should seek independent legal advice, particularly on whether the work could fall under these provisions. The agency said its alert had now put CGTRI’s alleged links to the MSS in the public domain.

China has rejected the allegations. A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in the UK, Zheng Zeguang, called the claims against CGTRI “imaginary and purely fabricated” and said Beijing had lodged “solemn representations” with the UK side.

The spokesperson said academic exchanges and cooperation between British and Chinese universities are voluntary, follow laws and regulations and are mutually beneficial. China also urged UK intelligence authorities to stop spreading what it called falsehoods and said such claims should not undermine educational and research cooperation between the two countries.