Chinese 'spy' at the heart of Parliament attempts to infiltrate private meeting

He claimed he was a tourist in a bid to enter the secluded committee room, the Hong Kong activists told the Daily Mail.

The meeting included Finn Lau and Christopher Mung.

The pair last week had £100,000 arrest bounties imposed on them by the Beijing-controlled police in Hong Kong.

The alleged spy gave a name not approved on the approved list when confronted while attempting to enter the room.

He also refused to say who he was representing.

The believed agent instead claimed he was directed to the secluded committee room as part of an official tour.

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He eventually decided to leave after a brief stand-off.

Around 200 MPs, peers, journalists and campaigners were invited to attend the event hosted by Tory MP Bob Seely on July 5.

The meeting was held in committee room 19 and some Hong Kongers covered their faces during the event.

Seely, who also sits on the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, said: “If this was a Chinese Communist Party spy then it is yet another example of this regime’s cack-handed malign incompetence.

“It would be completely inappropriate for Beijing to send an operative to intimidate or record people inside a private parliamentary event.”

Lau added: “I believe this man was a CCP informer. This is one of the remotest committee rooms in Parliament.

“And it is on the top floor. It is not a coincidence that a random Chinese tourist was outside the room at the exact right time and was attempting to access the event.

“The incident is just the latest example of CCP harassment Hong Kongers like me have faced.

“But I will not be deterred and I will continue to advocate for democracy in Hong Kong.”

Beijing has imposed sanctions against a number of senior politicians, including former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith and Security Minister Tom Tugendhat.

Sir Iain told The Daily Mail: “The Government must act on this – it is astonishing.

“We need to be sure that anyone acting suspiciously or refusing to identify themselves in Parliament is removed immediately.

“The CCP is a deeply unreliable and nasty organisation doing its level best to undermine security and free speech here in the UK.”

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle responded to China’s mass sanctioning by blocking its ambassador from Parliament while the sanctions remained in place.