The head of MI6, the British secret services, ironically thanked China for the “free publicity” found in a video released by the Chinese agency Xinhua in which, through a James Bond parody, he makes fun of the attentions of Western intelligence towards Beijing.
The rare response from MI6 chief Richard Moore, reported by the Guardian, comes amid growing tensions between China and Great Britain over Beijing’s treatment of its Uyghur minority and the creeping authoritarianism enacted in Hong Kong. Moore – code-named C within the agency – had long ago claimed that dedicating itself to the rise of China was the “only top priority” of the intelligence service. Last Tuesday the agency Xinhua tweeted the video titled “No Time to Die Laughing” in which a pair of Chinese actors play two fictional British spies called James Pond and Black Window.
In response, Moore tweeted: “Thanks for your interest (and the unexpected free publicity!)”. And he posted a link to a speech he gave in November in which he claimed that China has sought to “exploit the open mind” of British society and to influence “public debate and decision-making around the world” in its own way.