UK Spy Case Collapses Over China Security Threat Dispute

The case against Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry, accused of spying for China under the Official Secrets Act, collapsed because prosecutors could not obtain government evidence classifying China as a national security threat at the time of the alleged offences. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson stated that despite months of efforts, witness statements provided did not meet the threshold required to prosecute, following a precedent set by a previous spying case involving Russia. The UK government, led by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, maintained that the designation of China as a threat could not be changed retrospectively and had to rely on the previous government's assessment, which described China as an "epoch-defining challenge" but not explicitly a security threat. The CPS publicly criticized the government for its failure to provide necessary evidence, with some pointing to political complications including private meetings between UK officials and Chinese Communist Party figures. The collapse of the trial has sparked political blame, with the CPS implicating Number 10 and the Labour government for the evidential shortcomings, while Sir Keir refrained from assigning direct blame. Both accused men deny the allegations, and the government has expressed frustration over the trial's failure to proceed.