Just Stop Oil donor turned pro-Labour election campaigner Dale Vince has claimed “China’s a world leader in renewables“. Vince says “all my right wing friends who like to say ‘what about China?’” are wrong thanks to an article in Carbon Brief saying the country is “all but guaranteed to push fossil-fuel electricity generation and CO2 emissions into decline“. CCP propagandists couldn’t write it better themselves…

Those not living in eco-communist fantasy land will note China accounted for 30.9% of global carbon emissions in 2021 and embarked on a huge coal-fired power station building spree in summer 2022 which shows little sign of slowing down. China’s Net Zero target date, meanwhile, is 2060 and the country is rated “highly insufficient” on climateactiontracker.org. More hot air from Vince…

Plots and intrigue kicked into gear almost as soon as the King left Parliament yesterday when the APPG for the Chagos Islands was taken over in a coup by Tory MPs. The APPG was previously controlled by supporters of the FCDO’s apparent plan to give the islands away to Mauritius. The government started negotiations with Mauritius in November last year…

30 Tory MPs flooded into the AGM last night under direction of secret plans and voted Labour chairman Mike Kane out. The new chairman is Tory MP Henry Smith, whose Crawley constituency contains the highest number of Chagossians in the UK, some of whom have launched a legal challenge to stop the negotiations and keep the islands British. 2,000 of them were kicked out in 1968 to build an American military base…

The successful coup’s organisers say giving the islands away will cut crucial access to the Indian and Pacific Oceans and give China undue influence in the region. They’re warning the rest of British overseas territories could go the same way if British interests and self-determination aren’t considered. Daniel Kawczynski MP tells Guido: “We will not allow them to trash self-determination, overwise it puts at risk places like Gibraltar and others as well“. New chairman Henry Smith says now “Parliament is watching” and the Foreign Office should make proper reference to MPs. The battle over the fate of the islands is heating up…

Liz Truss has written a scathing public letter to Rishi Sunak this afternoon, slamming Downing Street’s decision to invite China to the government’s AI summit next week. She’s demanding he immediately rescind the offer…

“Dear Prime Minister,

I was deeply disturbed to learn that the Government intends welcoming to next week’s AI summit representatives of the same Chinese state that has used and abused technology to aid its oppression of millions and attacks on freedom and democracy.

The regime in Beijing has a fundamentally different attitude to the West about AI, seeing it as a means of state control and a tool for national security.

These and other concerns were a significant factor in the decision by the now Deputy Prime Minister in 2020, when he was Digital Secretary, to remove all Huawei equipment from the UK’s 5G networks. That was the correct call then and should have informed decisions about invitations to the Bletchley Park summit.

In any case, no reasonable person expects China to abide by anything agreed at this kind of summit, given their cavalier attitude to international law.

I am therefore requesting that you reconsider the invitation you have extended to China to next week’s summit.”

China are hardly going to great efforts to hide their espionage. Just months ago, Chris Cash was accused of spying for Beijing while still holding a parliamentary pass. Now we’re rolling out the red carpet for them…

Guido reported last month that the APPG for Metaverse and Web 3.0, which is run by Baroness Uddin and Khalid Mahmood MP, was backed by the UKIIC, a Chinese front whose stated aim is “upgrading Chinese soft power and global influence“. The APPG has now held an AGM and replaced the dodgy secretariat. The only problem? The replacement is run by the same people. They’re taking the piss with this one…

Guido can reveal that the new secretariat is the “Surrey Academy for Blockchain and Metaverse Applications“, headed up by Professor Yu Xiong, who happens to also be the president of the disgraced Chinese front. UKIIC personnel also feature as members of the new secretariat. The “Academy” was founded with a £1 million donation from Chinese crypto company JKL Capital. It’s no surprise that Surrey University is hosting these characters – Guido seems to remember it signing an extensive exchange agreement with the Chinese, taking a £7.5 million donation from Huawei to fund a “5G/6G Innovation Centre“, and trying to shut down criticism of China’s lockdowns as “microaggressions“. The secretariat speaks at APPG meetings and organises events in Parliament. They’ve got to try harder than that, a sham replacement won’t fool Guido…

A Times source tells Guido that they are surprised that the rest of the media is not naming Chris Cash as the person arrested on suspicion of spying for the Chinese. They believe there is a strong public interest case for naming the person who had access to parliamentarians, civil servants and think-tankers active on China issues.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader sanctioned by China, nailed it: “It’s a remarkably dangerous situation. This is a guy who allegedly spies on behalf of the Chinese government in the place where decisions are made and sensitive information is transferred. It is vitally important that he is named because many people who came into contact with this individual will be unaware that he has been arrested on suspicion of espionage. There is a clear public interest.”

Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee Alicia Kearns’ ally told The Times defensively “Preposterous suggestions that Alicia should have breached all police and intelligence requests not to discuss this case could only come from individuals with zero understanding of legal investigations or intelligence work.” Spooks like to do things secretly.

Cash issued a statement via the law firm Birnberg Peirce; “I feel forced to respond to the media accusations that I am a ‘Chinese spy’. It is wrong that I should be obliged to make any form of public comment on the misreporting that has taken place. However, given what has been reported, it is vital that it is known that I am completely innocent. I have spent my career to date trying to educate others about the challenge and threats presented by the Chinese Communist Party.  To do what has been claimed against me in extravagant news reporting would be against everything I stand for.” Even if he isn’t charged or is found innocent, there is still a public interest in open justice. People getting arrested in secret, unreported by the press, is a hallmark of police states.

Guido didn’t name Chris Cash last night because we assumed there must be a good reason papers were holding back. In retrospect we made a mistake.

With talk of espionage running through Westminster, eyebrows may be raised by the fact that the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Metaverse and Web 3.0, run by Baroness Uddin and Simon Fell, is administered by a Chinese front organisation called the UK International Innovation Center (UKIIC).

The UKIIC acts as the secretariat for the APPG, speaking at its meetings and organising events in Parliament. It states its aims as “providing constructive advice to its China headquarters under the mission of contributing to the country” and “upgrading China’s Soft power and international influence.” It claims to be in an “innovation alliance” with Huawei and works with the University of Reading’s Henley Business School and Huawei Institute of Information and Network Technology. For Huawei, as one door closes another opens…

The organisation recently received a delegation from Hangzhou in China “to explore cooperation in technology innovation between China and the UK” which included CCP officer He Xianzhong, as part of which they signed a “framework agreement” to establish a strategic cooperation relationship and agreed on a follow-up plan for in-depth cooperation. For “soft power influence” read “lobbying” …

UPDATE: The UKIIC has now taken down all of its websites. Time for a rebrand…