Chinese spy suspect ‘stopped at Heathrow aiport carrying £4,000 in suitcase’

A suspect in the Chinese spying case was detained at Heathrow Airport with £4,000 lying in his suitcase, it has emerged. Academic Christopher Berry was discovered with a “suitcase full of cash” when he was stopped by police under terrorism laws after flying into the London airport from China in February 2023.

Six weeks later, the 33-year-old academic from Witney, Oxfordshire, was formally arrested on suspicion of spying for China. Mr Berry is believed to have been given the cash by his Chinese intelligence handler known only as ‘Alex’.

It is unclear whether the money was retained by the police or what currency it was in.

He was stopped under Schedule 3 of the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019 — a measure that allows police to intervene when they suspect involvement in “hostile activity” linked to a foreign state.

Both Berry’s phone and laptop were seized during the stop, and subsequent investigations uncovered his connection to parliamentary researcher Chris Cash.

Cash, a parliamentary researcher from Edinburgh, was also accused of spying for China, as well as a person assessed to be a Chinese intelligence agent.

Prosecutors claimed that the Chinese agent hired Berry to produce at least 34 reports on politically sensitive topics, ten of which were considered prejudicial to national security.

On Saturday, the Metropolitan Police said: “A man in his thirties was subject to a stop at Heathrow airport on 2 February 2023 under Schedule 3 of the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019.

“He was not arrested and inquiries continued.”

UK prosecutors suspected that Cai Qi — a close ally of President Xi Jinping and China’s fifth-highest-ranking official — had received intelligence from Westminster in connection with the case.

Authorities remain under pressure to explain why the prosecution of two men charged with spying for Beijing collapsed just before they were due to stand trial.

Mr Berry and Mr Cash were charged last year with providing information or documents to China that could be “prejudicial to the safety or interests” of the UK. But last month, prosecutors dropped the charges.

The two men deny wrongdoing, and the Chinese Embassy has called the allegations “pure fabrication and malicious slander”.

Mr Berry has said in a statement he was now “unfairly subjected to a trial by media”, arguing that his reports for a Chinese company could not be “considered for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state.