A top Chinese diplomat was hauled in to the Foreign Office on Tuesday after the UK Government called out a cyber attack on the Electoral Commission and parliamentarians.
China’s chargé d’affaires in London was summoned for a formal dressing-down, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said. It is understood that Ambassador Zheng Zeguang is out of the UK.
“We always take action in the national interest wherever necessary to defend our critical national infrastructure, address foreign interference and bolster our capabilities,” he said.
Asked about reports that the Government could force Chinese state-owned companies to register for closer scrutiny in the UK on a scheme for foreign agents, the spokesman said: “The scheme is in the process of being finalized and no countries have been specified yet.
“As the Deputy Prime Minister (Oliver Dowden) said yesterday, there is a case for adding China but there is a process to go through and it wouldn’t be …