London needs to 'wake up' to scale of spying, IP theft and interference ops threat by China, says senior MP

London needs to “wake up” to the scale and severity of the threat of espionage, intellectual property theft and interference operations by China, a leading parliamentarian warned.

Former Cabinet minister Theresa Villiers, who sits on Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee, stressed that China is targeting the capital “prolifically” as it seeks to gain economic, political or military advantage.

Parliament, Government departments in Whitehall and beyond, leading universities, the City and company HQs make the city a target-rich ecosystem for State cyber attacks.

Speaking to The Standard, Ms Villiers, Conservative MP for Chipping Barnet, said: “London needs to wake up to the , to our prosperity, our science and technology and our cyber