{"id":285340,"date":"2025-10-08T21:05:23","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T20:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\/"},"modified":"2025-10-08T21:05:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T20:05:23","slug":"explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Explained: Why were\u00a0charges dropped in the Chinese spy trial? | ITV News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i4.ytimg.com\/vi\/WK8tEXNGJGI\/hqdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Explained: Why were\u00a0charges dropped in the Chinese spy trial? | ITV News\"><br \/> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WK8tEXNGJGI\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe> <\/p>\n<p>A Chinese spying trial collapsed after the government refused to brand Beijing a threat to national security, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Stephen Parkinson has said, after trying \u201cover many months\u201d to get the evidence it needed to\u00a0carry out the prosecution. The case against Christopher Cash, a former parliamentary researcher, and Christopher Berry was dropped on 15 September 2025, sparking criticism from Downing Street and MPs from both sides of the political aisle.<\/p>\n<p>The decision reportedly came after senior Whitehall officials met to discuss the trial, including National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell and the Foreign Office\u2019s top civil servant Sir Oliver Robbins, according to the Sunday Times. To prove the case under the Official Secrets Act 1911, prosecutors would have had to show the defendants were acting for an \u201cenemy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sir Keir Starmer insisted that as the alleged offences took place under the previous Conservative government, that administration\u2019s approach to China had to be considered in courtroom evidence. The Prime Minister also suggested other recent espionage-related case law had impacted on the CPS\u2019s ability to prosecute.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Cash and Mr Berry have denied all wrongdoing.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Subscribe to ITV News on YouTube: http:\/\/bit.ly\/2lOHmNj\u00a0<br \/>\n\u2022 Get breaking news and more stories at http:\/\/www.itv.com\/news\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Follow ITV News on TikTok https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@itvnews?lang=en\u00a0<br \/>\nFollow ITV News on Instagram: https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/itvnews\/\u00a0<br \/>\nFollow ITV News on Facebook: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/itvnews\/\u00a0<br \/>\nFollow ITV News on X: https:\/\/twitter.com\/itvnews<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Chinese spying trial collapsed after the government refused to brand Beijing a threat to national security, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Stephen Parkinson has said, after trying \u201cover many months\u201d to get the evidence it needed to\u00a0carry out the prosecution. The case against Christopher Cash, a former parliamentary researcher, and Christopher Berry was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":285341,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[128812],"tags":[130352,130269,130105],"actors":[],"class_list":["post-285340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-itv-news","tag-chinese","tag-spying","tag-trial"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Explained: Why were\u00a0charges dropped in the Chinese spy trial? | ITV News | News ISC Videos<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Watch Explained: Why were\u00a0charges dropped in the Chinese spy trial? | ITV News for free, here on News ISC. Discover more great videos on our website and be part of the community.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Explained: Why were\u00a0charges dropped in the Chinese spy trial? | ITV News | News ISC Videos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Watch Explained: Why were\u00a0charges dropped in the Chinese spy trial? | ITV News for free, here on News ISC. Discover more great videos on our website and be part of the community.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News ISC Videos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-08T20:05:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i4.ytimg.com\/vi\/WK8tEXNGJGI\/hqdefault.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newsisc.com\\\/videos\\\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newsisc.com\\\/videos\\\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newsisc.com\\\/videos\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b607dad6f0ffe6ee238615dd31287061\"},\"headline\":\"Explained: Why were\u00a0charges dropped in the Chinese spy trial? | ITV News\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-08T20:05:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newsisc.com\\\/videos\\\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":263,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newsisc.com\\\/videos\\\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newsisc.com\\\/videos\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/hqdefault-1136.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Chinese\",\"spying\",\"trial\"],\"articleSection\":[\"ITV News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newsisc.com\\\/videos\\\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newsisc.com\\\/videos\\\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Explained: Why were\u00a0charges dropped in the Chinese spy trial? | ITV News | News ISC Videos\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newsisc.com\\\/videos\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newsisc.com\\\/videos\\\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newsisc.com\\\/videos\\\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newsisc.com\\\/videos\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/hqdefault-1136.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-08T20:05:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newsisc.com\\\/videos\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b607dad6f0ffe6ee238615dd31287061\"},\"description\":\"Watch Explained: Why were\u00a0charges dropped in the Chinese spy trial? | ITV News for free, here on News ISC. Discover more great videos on our website and be part of the community.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newsisc.com\\\/videos\\\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newsisc.com\\\/videos\\\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newsisc.com\\\/videos\\\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newsisc.com\\\/videos\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/hqdefault-1136.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newsisc.com\\\/videos\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/hqdefault-1136.jpg\",\"width\":480,\"height\":360},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newsisc.com\\\/videos\\\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newsisc.com\\\/videos\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Explained: Why were\u00a0charges dropped in the Chinese spy trial? | ITV News\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newsisc.com\\\/videos\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newsisc.com\\\/videos\\\/\",\"name\":\"News ISC Videos\",\"description\":\"Bringing Global News Videos To You\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newsisc.com\\\/videos\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newsisc.com\\\/videos\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b607dad6f0ffe6ee238615dd31287061\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5cb873dc3ec1a9c6faaada2ff44165cc5008b217d20c9e9a42cc731bad11ed16?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5cb873dc3ec1a9c6faaada2ff44165cc5008b217d20c9e9a42cc731bad11ed16?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5cb873dc3ec1a9c6faaada2ff44165cc5008b217d20c9e9a42cc731bad11ed16?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tidyhosts.com\\\/videos\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newsisc.com\\\/videos\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Explained: Why were\u00a0charges dropped in the Chinese spy trial? | ITV News | News ISC Videos","description":"Watch Explained: Why were\u00a0charges dropped in the Chinese spy trial? | ITV News for free, here on News ISC. Discover more great videos on our website and be part of the community.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Explained: Why were\u00a0charges dropped in the Chinese spy trial? | ITV News | News ISC Videos","og_description":"Watch Explained: Why were\u00a0charges dropped in the Chinese spy trial? | ITV News for free, here on News ISC. Discover more great videos on our website and be part of the community.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\/","og_site_name":"News ISC Videos","article_published_time":"2025-10-08T20:05:23+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/i4.ytimg.com\/vi\/WK8tEXNGJGI\/hqdefault.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Estimated reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/#\/schema\/person\/b607dad6f0ffe6ee238615dd31287061"},"headline":"Explained: Why were\u00a0charges dropped in the Chinese spy trial? | ITV News","datePublished":"2025-10-08T20:05:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\/"},"wordCount":263,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hqdefault-1136.jpg","keywords":["Chinese","spying","trial"],"articleSection":["ITV News"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\/","url":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\/","name":"Explained: Why were\u00a0charges dropped in the Chinese spy trial? | ITV News | News ISC Videos","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hqdefault-1136.jpg","datePublished":"2025-10-08T20:05:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/#\/schema\/person\/b607dad6f0ffe6ee238615dd31287061"},"description":"Watch Explained: Why were\u00a0charges dropped in the Chinese spy trial? | ITV News for free, here on News ISC. Discover more great videos on our website and be part of the community.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hqdefault-1136.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hqdefault-1136.jpg","width":480,"height":360},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/explained-why-were-charges-dropped-in-the-chinese-spy-trial-itv-news\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Explained: Why were\u00a0charges dropped in the Chinese spy trial? | ITV News"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/","name":"News ISC Videos","description":"Bringing Global News Videos To You","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/#\/schema\/person\/b607dad6f0ffe6ee238615dd31287061","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5cb873dc3ec1a9c6faaada2ff44165cc5008b217d20c9e9a42cc731bad11ed16?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5cb873dc3ec1a9c6faaada2ff44165cc5008b217d20c9e9a42cc731bad11ed16?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5cb873dc3ec1a9c6faaada2ff44165cc5008b217d20c9e9a42cc731bad11ed16?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.tidyhosts.com\/videos"],"url":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285340"},{"taxonomy":"actors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/actors?post=285340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}