仅事实
英国间谍审判因缺乏将中国定性为威胁的证据而崩溃
摘要
两名被控为中国从事间谍活动的男子审判因检方未能获得将中国定性为国家安全威胁的政府证据而宣告失败。
克里斯托弗·卡什（30岁）和克里斯托弗·贝里（33岁）因被控为中国进行间谍活动的审判因英国皇家检控署（CPS）未能获得将中国定性为国家安全威胁的政府证据而宣告失败。两人均否认指控。
公共检控署署长斯蒂芬·帕金森表示，虽然在2024年4月提出指控时有足够证据进行起诉，但今年早些时候另一宗间谍案件所设立的先例提高了根据《官方机密法》定罪所需的门槛。他解释称，中国必须在被指控的犯罪发生时被定性为“国家安全威胁”。数月来试图从政府获取此类证据的努力均告失败。
政府对审判失败表示失望。基尔·斯塔默爵士指出，政府对中国的描述不能事后更改，必须基于前任政府的立场，而前任政府将中国称为“划时代的挑战”。
此案的失败引发了对进一步解释的呼吁。前公共检控署署长麦克唐纳勋爵敦促总检察长赫默尔勋爵出席议员会议澄清情况，强调国家安全事务需要透明度。
2023年，军情五处负责人肯·麦卡勒姆强调中国进行了一场“规模相当宏大的持续间谍活动”，议会报告显示中国已渗透英国经济的“各个领域”。
起诉失败引发了对英国应对间谍威胁能力的担忧，以及法律标准与国家安全评估之间协调难题的关注。
来源
BBC事实核查
使用外部来源和数据库核实文章的事实。
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The trial of Christopher Cash, 30, and Christopher Berry, 33, accused of espionage for China, collapsed due to the Crown Prosecution Service's inability to secure government evidence labeling China as a national security threat.
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Both men denied the allegations.
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Stephen Parkinson, the Director of Public Prosecutions, stated that while there was sufficient evidence to prosecute at the time charges were brought in April 2024, a precedent set by another spying case earlier this year raised the threshold needed to convict under the Official Secrets Act.
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The government expressed frustration over the trial's collapse.
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Sir Keir Starmer noted that the government's description of China could not change retrospectively and had to be based on the position of the previous government, which referred to China as an 'epoch-defining challenge.'
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Former Director of Public Prosecutions Lord Macdonald urged Attorney General Lord Hermer to appear before MPs to clarify the situation, emphasizing the need for transparency in national security matters.
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In 2023, MI5 head Ken McCallum highlighted a 'sustained campaign' of Chinese espionage on a 'pretty epic scale,' and a parliamentary report indicated that China had penetrated 'every sector' of the UK's economy.
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