A Chinese ‘spy’ accused of targeting Parliament is suing MI5 in a claim that could cost taxpayers millions of pounds.
Christine Lee, 59, has launched an audacious legal bid after alleging the intelligence service ruined her life by labelling her an ‘agent’ of the communist state.
She was accused last year of engaging in ‘political interference’ and donating to ‘political parties, parliamentarians, aspiring parliamentarians’ on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party.
Ironically, the Birmingham-based solicitor is arguing for compensation on the basis that she can ‘no longer travel to China’, ‘involve herself in politics’ nor donate to British political parties.
Miss Lee, responding to the allegations for the first time, insisted she is not ‘an agent of the Chinese Communist state’ and has been held prisoner in her £985,000 home following the incident in January 2022.
Christine Lee, 59, (pictured) is suing MI5 over claims the intelligence agency destroyed her reputation by accusing her of being a Chinese spy
In an unprecedented legal challenge, she wants MI5 to hand over intelligence they have gathered on her for years, which if successful could prove a major coup for the Chinese authorities.
The mother-of-two has accused the Security Service of exposing her to ‘death threats, vile racist and sinophobic abuse, and threats of physical harm’.
She is suing for compensatory damages, which could run into millions, arguing that the decision to ‘brand her as a spy acting for the Chinese State’ and release her photograph breached her human rights.
Miss Lee complains in legal documents she has suffered a ‘life of isolation equivalent to house arrest and the very real fear of being assaulted by members of the public’.
The claim states: ‘She has been publicly maligned and shunned from the community. She has been subjected to press intrusion at home and national/international media reporting.
‘The effect of the IA (MI5 interference alert) has been to destroy her personal and professional reputation and has led to irreversible harm to her business. Her personal and business banking facilities were withdrawn.
Christine Lee’s (left) son Daniel Wilkes, who is also suing MI5, previously worked for Labour MP Barry Gardiner (right)
‘The IA has adversely impacted on her ability to interact and engage with others and to live a peaceful life.
‘She can no longer travel to China. If she so chose, she could no longer involve herself in politics, whether as a supporter or donor (from her personal resources).’
Miss Lee’s continuing desire to get involved in British politics is likely to alarm MI5, which warned of her ‘interference across British democracy’, courting Cabinet ministers and former prime ministers.
Her son Daniel Wilkes, who worked for Labour MP Barry Gardiner, is also suing MI5 after his mother’s donations of more than £500,000 to the former Labour leadership contender were questioned.
In total, she donated more than £640,000 to the Labour Party and Liberal Democrats, as well as lobbying more than 480 MPs.
Miss Lee formed close links with David Cameron, when he was in office, as the only Chinese member of his 2010 business delegation to China.
In 2019, she was welcomed into Downing Street to receive an award from then prime minister Theresa May in recognition of her contribution to good relations with China.
She has been chief legal adviser to the Chinese embassy in London and a legal adviser to the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, an agency of the Communist Party’s network of influence overseen by its United Front Work Department.
Christine Lee forged close ties with David Cameron when he was in office as the only Chinese member of his business delegation to China in 2010
But her lawyer Tony Muman said: ‘She refutes that she is an agent of the Chinese Communist State.
‘This has had a major adverse impact on her and her family life. She has felt a prisoner in her own home.’
The immigration barrister, who recently challenged the Government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, has asked the Investigatory Powers Tribunal to compel MI5 to disclose what they know about her.
MI5 lawyers argue that no disclosure is required as the purpose of the alert was to protect democracy, claiming: ‘It was an exercise of power by the Security Service to protect parliamentary democracy from the threat posed by foreign political interference.’
The tribunal is expected to rule in around four weeks on whether sensitive intelligence should be handed over.
A full hearing to determine Miss Lee’s damages claim will be scheduled later this year.
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