The Guardian has reported that Cai Qi, a member of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Politburo Standing Committee and a close confidant of President Xi Jinping, has been linked to an alleged British espionage case.
According to the report, British authorities in March 2023 arrested Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry on charges of violating the Official Secrets Act. Cash, a parliamentary researcher and former director of the UK Parliament’s China Research Group – a body focused on China-related policy – was accused alongside Berry, a teacher who had worked in China, of passing sensitive intelligence from the group to Beijing.
In April 2024, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) identified Cai Qi as the ultimate recipient of the leaked intelligence, citing his roles as Director of the CCP’s General Office and Vice Chairman of the National Security Commission. Prosecutors alleged that the classified documents were funneled through multiple intermediaries before reaching Cai.
However, on September 15, 2025, the CPS abruptly dropped the charges, stating that the evidence no longer met the standard required for conviction. Analysts have speculated that the reversal may have been influenced by diplomatic or economic pressures.
Skeptics have questioned whether a senior CCP leader like Cai Qi would have been directly involved in such an operation. Another theory suggests that Cai’s son, Cai Erjin, may have been the key intermediary. Cai Erjin served as a Communist Youth League official in Hangzhou’s Liuxia Subdistrict, where Berry taught at Hangzhou Dongfang Middle School between 2017 and 2019. Observers note that the school fell within Cai Erjin’s jurisdiction, raising the possibility that he may have recruited Berry and later channeled information to his father.
Source: China News Center, October 5, 2025
https://chinanewscenter.com/archives/50416