Xi Jinping’s China is not an honest player in international relations (Getty Images)
Perhaps it was appropriate that the news of a mass infiltration by insiders of Beijing’s ruling party should break in the same week that John le Carré died.
The passing of the master of spy stories reminded us all of times past, when the world was dominated by superpowers who employed tens of thousands to work in that shadowy space between diplomacy and sabotage; the arena of spooks and agents, doubles and triples.
The database had originally been leaked in September on Telegram, the WhatsApp for would-be James Bonds, and was made public to journalists this week by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China.