MI5 Warns UK Universities to Sever Ties With China or Face Prosecution
The security service has identified academics receiving funding from China's Ministry of State Security for research in sensitive technology areas.
MI5 has issued an unprecedented public alert to Cambridge and other universities in the United Kingdom, warning them to cease collaborations with China on key technologies or risk prosecution for aiding foreign espionage. The security service has identified approximately 100 British academics accepting funding from China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) for research in sensitive fields, including artificial intelligence (AI), cyber-security, covert communications systems, and steganography.
According to the MI5 alert, the primary objective of the China General Technology Research Institute (CGTRI), a funding body identified in the warning, is to support academic research that directly enhances the MSS's technical capabilities for espionage. While MI5 did not name the specific universities involved, separate inquiries revealed that Cambridge University published a study in 2025 on 'ancient metagenomics' funded by the China Academy of General Technology (CAGT), an alternate name for CGTRI. This study was co-authored by a Cambridge academic.
Additionally, two academics from University College London (UCL) co-authored a paper in 2023 concerning 'developing carbon-based materials for batteries,' which was also sponsored by the same Chinese entity. MI5 stated that academics might not be aware of the indirect funding sources, and some institutions may have engaged with CGTRI in good faith without knowing its connection to the MSS.
Universities are now being instructed to terminate all such arrangements. Failure to comply could result in academics facing charges for assisting a foreign intelligence service, an offense carrying a potential 14-year prison sentence under the National Security Act. Security Minister Dan Jarvis emphasized that this alert exposes attempts by Chinese intelligence to covertly leverage the expertise of British academics, thereby undermining national security. He has written to all university vice-chancellors urging them to support staff in ending these arrangements.
Tory security spokeswoman Alicia Kearns criticized universities for assisting the Chinese intelligence service, calling the situation a "wake-up call" for academics who she believes are naively working with the Chinese Communist Party. Security expert Anthony Glees suggested that universities' financial pressures are making them vulnerable to Chinese spying operations, potentially turning them into national security risks.