British prosecutors suspected that 
Cai Qi (蔡奇), China’s fifth most senior official, was in receipt of intelligence from Westminster in a controversial and now-abandoned espionage case. The Crown Prosecution Service dropped the charges against British researchers Christopher Berry and Christopher Cash on Sep 15 — more than two years after they were first arrested, citing a lack of evidence.
The CPS said in April 2024 that a “senior member of the Chinese Communist party and a politburo member” had received “politically sensitive information” from Berry and Cash — both of them were charged with spying for China.
That person is understood to be Cai Qi, a member of the standing committee of the CCP politburo. The committee is the ruling body of the CCP and is headed by Xi Jinping.
Cai, a Xi protege, is the fifth-ranking member of the seven-man committee, making him one of the most powerful men in China. A former party secretary for Beijing, Cai is also a director of the CCP’s general office, making him de facto chief of staff to Xi.
Cai’s identification in the CPS’s case is at the heart of a two-and-a-half-year saga.
The CPS alleged that between Dec 2021 and Feb 2023, “a Chinese intelligence agent” commissioned at least 34 reports from Berry, a British researcher living in China.
Those reports contained information from Cash, an acquaintance of Berry’s who was working in Westminster for the China Research Group, a group of Beijing-sceptic Conservative MPs. The CPS believed that information was passed on to Cai, who for most of that period was a member of the 24-person politburo. In Oct 2022 Cai was promoted to the standing committee.
So the espionage case was dropped because of political pressure?
theguardian.com/world/2025/octQuote
Byron Wan
@Byron_Wan
British prosecutors have dropped charges against two men accused of spying for China. Christopher Cash, a former parliamentary researcher, and Christopher Berry, a teacher, had previously denied charges of breaching the Official Secrets Act between Dec 2021 and Feb 2023. Both x.com/Byron_Wan/stat…