Scotland's tertiary education minister has written to every further and higher education institution in the country, telling them they must take robust action to guard against espionage, following a rare public alert from MI5 about Chinese state-linked funding of UK academic research.

Alyn Smith confirmed he had sent the letter to all Scottish colleges and universities after what he described as a "ramped up awareness" of vulnerabilities on Scottish campuses. He said the Scottish Government takes the issue "very seriously" and wants reassurance that institutions have procedures in place to stay alert to the threat.

The MI5 alert behind the warning

Smith's letter follows an unusual public intervention by MI5 on 30 September, when the Security Service issued a formal Espionage Alert naming the China General Technology Research Institute, known as CGTRI, sometimes translated as the China Academy of General Technology. MI5 said the organisation has "very strong ties" to China's Ministry of State Security, the country's civilian intelligence and security service, and that its primary purpose is to fund academic research that directly improves the MSS's technical capability for espionage.

MI5 said CGTRI has funded research on topics including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, covert communications systems and steganography, the practice of concealing information within other material. The alert said more than 100 UK-linked academics have contributed to projects funded by the MSS via CGTRI, and that in some cases academics may not have been aware that CGTRI was the ultimate source of the funding behind the Chinese research projects they were working on.

MI5 described the alert as the first time it had independently published a public espionage warning of this kind. It said many institutions and individuals would have engaged with CGTRI in good faith given the organisation's "obfuscated links" to the MSS. The Security Service advised UK academic institutions to immediately review any ongoing or planned collaboration with CGTRI, and advised academics working with Chinese institutions to establish the ultimate source of funding for any research collaboration to ensure CGTRI is not involved. It also pointed institutions towards the National Security Act 2023 and said any institution or individual continuing research ultimately funded by CGTRI should seek independent legal advice.

Security minister also wrote to vice-chancellors

The alert triggered a UK-wide response. Security minister Dan Jarvis wrote to all university vice-chancellors warning that the alert exposed attempts by Chinese intelligence to "covertly benefit" from the expertise of British academics, which he said was "undermining our national security, and that of our allies." Smith's letter to Scottish colleges and universities follows that UK government intervention, applying the warning specifically to the devolved tertiary education sector in Scotland.

Minister's comments

Speaking about his decision to write to institutions, Smith said: "I am saying the Scottish Government takes this very seriously, and the wider risk of espionage on campus is significant." He added: "We would like a reassurance that they are taking this seriously and have procedures that keep them alive to this." Smith said there was "a ramped up awareness that we are seeing a number of organisations being more averse about the risk of cyber disruption, the risk of malfeasance in our communications networks, research networks" and said there were "a lot of vulnerabilities which we need to be better on our toes about protecting." He noted that Scottish universities are "globally interconnected" and said "we need to make sure that everybody is aware of the risks."

Beijing's response

The Chinese Embassy in London rejected the allegations contained in the MI5 alert. A spokesperson said the accusations made by the UK intelligence agency against the relevant Chinese entity were "imaginary and purely fabricated," adding: "We firmly oppose such baseless allegations and have lodged solemn representations with the UK side." The embassy said exchanges and collaboration between UK universities and China had "always been conducted on a voluntary basis and in compliance with laws and regulations" and were "mutually beneficial." It urged UK intelligence authorities "to stop spreading falsehoods and stop undermining educational exchanges and research cooperation between China and the UK."

Context

Scottish universities have faced scrutiny in the past over funding links to China. Research has previously found Scottish institutions accepted funding from organisations with alleged ties to the Chinese military and state security apparatus, prompting calls from some campaigners for greater transparency over research partnerships. Smith's letter represents the first direct response from the Scottish Government's tertiary education brief to the specific CGTRI alert, distinct from the earlier UK government warning to vice-chancellors issued by Jarvis.