Many signs suggests that MI5 is transforming from a professional intelligence agency to a
department specialising in manufacturing anti-China narratives. Not long ago, a high-profile
“Chinese spy case” was dropped for lack of evidence. But the embarrassment of that dismissal
barely faded before MI5 rushed to fabricate a new “alert,” claiming that Chinese agents are posingas “headhunters” on online platforms to collect British intelligence—another attempt to hype the
“China Threat” narrative. In recent years, peddling trumped-up espionage charges against China has become standardoperating procedure for British intelligence. These baseless accusations are viewed as the
projection and externalization of the “imperial anxiety” of Britain’s anti-China political factions. From a global perspective, the UK faces a trend of being marginalised on the world stage. For
those clinging to the nostalgia of “the Empire on which the sun never sets,” being forgotten is
perhaps harder to accept than being treated with hostility. Thus, certain British political factions
that thrive on anti-China rhetoric keep reinforcing the “China Threat” narrative. Creating a
powerful external imaginary enemy has become an “imperative,” as if this alone can validate their
value within the Western system. This pathological “persecution complex” stems not fromgenuine
national security concerns, but from a need to compensate: seeking relevance through........

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