Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle national security threats from China.

China poses a range of security threats to the UK. The Government will continue to tackle activity that threatens our national security and infringes on sovereign affairs.

Where there are individuals who pose a threat to our national security, we are committed to using the full range of powers to disrupt them, including the National Security Act 2023.

The Government is undertaking a range of work to further secure the UK from state threats activity. This includes:

• The continued delivery of our Counter Political Interference and Espionage Action Plan.

• £170 million invested in renewing the sovereign and encrypted technology that civil servants use to protect sensitive work.

• The removal of surveillance equipment manufactured by companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China from all sensitives sites the government operates around the world.

• Ongoing support to the higher education and research sector to address national security risks to international collaboration through the Research Collaboration and Advice Team.

• Bolstering efforts to support universities to identify and combat foreign interference, supported by additional investment of £3 million over the next three years.

• Delivery of a £210 million backed Government Cyber Action Plan, which aims to increase the cyber resilience of UK Government systems and to ensure the UK is a hard operating environment for any threat actor.

We have recently seen the first National Security Act prosecutions in relation to China on May 7. This continues to demonstrate that those who break our laws will face the full force of the law.