A persecuted Uighur Muslin who fled China and took residence in the UK was offered thousands of pounds a month to spy for China, LBC’s exclusive report claims.

According to a phone recording obtained exclusively by Leading Britain’s Conversation (LBC), a digital news service from Global Media & Entertainment, a suspected Chinese security officer appeared to blackmail a Uighur Muslim saying, “There are clean easy jobs available during normal working hours, you can earn up to 7 to 8 thousand dollars a month, first, you need to find out comprehensive information for us.”

The Uighur man told LBC that the officer wanted him doing reconnaissance by attending protests and Uighur community gatherings in the UK and report who had attended. The officer also wanted the Uighur man to note down the names of Uighur refugees who have given interviews to journalists and to discover what certain Uighur pressure groups were planning.

Threatened with his family

The Uighur man said the toughest part of the phone calls is talking about his family since he emphasized that the security officer said: “We will make sure you can speak to your mother regularly; we will help you to send your child to the UK. To help you for you to reunite. And, if any of your relatives are in prison in camps, in detention, we will make sure to release them, so they have a normal life.”

The Uighur man said he was tempted to accept the offer but he “cannot do that because my conscience wouldn’t allow it.”

Commenting on the situation, Professor Anthony Glees, Director of the Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies at the University of Buckingham said: “This is standard totalitarian espionage tradecraft. They want to do the things they set out to do. To steal our secrets, meddle in our politics, interfere with our stance on human rights and to undermine and subvert our willingness to defend our values and other’s values with all the means at their disposal.”

While researchers estimate that nearly two million Uighurs have faced mass arbitrary detention in camps in Xinjiang and the west of the country, Chinese government has repeatedly denied these claims, calling it the ‘lie of the century’.

In a released statement, the Home Office said: “We continually assess potential threats in the UK, and take protection of individuals’ rights, freedoms, and safety in the UK very seriously.

“Anyone who believes that a crime has been committed or is concerned for their safety should contact the police.”

LBC reports having contacted the Chinese Embassy for a response to the claims and they said there was no truth in the allegations being made against Chinese officials and denied any wrongdoing taking place in Xinjiang.