UPDATE 4-UK drops case against two men accused of spying for China

British prosecutors on Monday dropped charges of spying for China against two men, including a former researcher for a senior British lawmaker, provoking dismay from the government which said it was concerned about Beijing's espionage threat. Former director of the China Research Group think tank Christopher Cash, 30, and Christopher Berry, 33, were charged with passing sensitive information to China and due on trial next month, having denied all the accusations against them.

However, prosecutor Tom Little told London's Old Bailey Court that the case against the pair, both British nationals, no longer met the evidential threshold and would not proceed. CASH: 'JUSTICE HAS BEEN SERVED'

"While I am relieved that justice has been served today, the last two and a half years have been a nightmare for me and my family," Cash said outside court. The men, first arrested in March 2023, were accused of providing information prejudicial to the interests of the state in breach of the Official Secrets Act between December 2021 and February 2023.

The Sunday Times newspaper reported that Cash had been arrested while working as a researcher in parliament for Conservative lawmaker Alicia Kearns, who then chaired the Foreign Affairs Committee. ACCUSED OF PASSING SENSITIVE INFORMATION TO CHINA

Prosecutors said the men were friends and that Berry had worked in China in various posts since 2015. They were accused of passing politically sensitive information to a Chinese intelligence agent. Cash's lawyer Henry Blaxland said his colleagues were surprised by the accusations as he "did more than almost anybody to insist on informing parliamentarians of the security risk" of doing business with China.

London has previously said Chinese spies were targeting British officials in sensitive positions in politics, defence and business as part of an increasingly sophisticated operation to gain access to secrets. Security minister Dan Jarvis said in parliament he was "extremely disappointed" with the decision not to take the case to trial and that the government "remains gravely concerned about the threat of Chinese espionage".

He added that Britain's Foreign Office had contacted the Chinese embassy in London "to make clear that we will not tolerate any activity that interferes in our democracy". The Chinese embassy in London said that accusations of China instructing British citizens to steal intelligence were fabricated and malicious slander.

"We urge certain individuals in the UK to stop this kind of self-staged anti-China political farce," the embassy said. (Additional reporting by Andrew MacAskill Editing by Sarah Young, Gareth Jones and Andrew Cawthorne)

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