Mocking the West? Thank you for free publicity says MI6 Chief Richard Moore

London: Britain’s spy chief on Thursday thanked China’s state news agency for “free publicity” after it posted a spoof of James Bond that mocked the Western intelligence community’s growing focus on threats posed by Beijing.

The rare response by MI6 head Richard Moore comes as China and Britain clash over Beijing’s treatment of its Uyghur minority and creeping authoritarianism in the former British colony of Hong Kong.Moore -- codenamed “C” within the agency -- previously said adapting to China’s rise was the spy service’s “single greatest priority” and warned of Chinese “debt traps, data exposure and vulnerability to political coercion”. Debt traps refer to China extracting concessions such as the use of ports from countries that sign up to its soft-power infrastructure initiative when they default on loan repayments. In a tongue-incheek Twitter post on Tuesday, state news agency Xinhua said it had uncovered “leaked video” of a “secret meeting” between British and American spies after Moore bumped Beijing higher on MI6’s agenda. The attached clip -- titled “No Time to Die Laughing” -- featured a pair of Chinese actors playing fictional British spies called “James Pond” and “Black Window”.

In his Thursday response, Moore tweeted: “Thank you for your interest (and the unexpected free publicity!)” He posted a link to a speech he gave in November in which he said China sought to “exploit the open nature” of British society and “distort public discourse and political decision making across the globe”. —Agencies