MI6 spy detained in China, authorities claim

Chinese authorities say they have detained an individual alleged to be spying for Britain's foreign intelligence service, MI6.

China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) said the individual was a foreigner and was trying to collect information inside the country.

It is the latest arrest in a campaign by Chinese security to clamp down on foreign spying.

The British government has not commented on the claims.

The news of the arrest came in a statement issued in a post from the MSS on the WeChat social network.

It said the alleged spy was named "Huang" and came from a "third country," implying they were neither British nor Chinese. It said consular visits had been arranged following the arrest but did not say from which country.

China has increasingly been publicising cases of alleged espionage by Western countries.

Previous cases have focused on alleged activity by the US's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) - so accusing Britain's MI6 is more unusual.

Beijing has also launched public campaigns to raise awareness of foreign spying and calling on people to report any activity.

In this latest case, the MSS alleged that in 2015, MI6 recruited the foreign national to create what was described as an "intelligence cooperation relationship".

It said that after their recruitment, MI6 instructed them to go to China on multiple occasions and use their job as cover to collect intelligence and recruit other individuals.

It claimed that they were provided with professional intelligence training in the UK and other locations and also equipped with specialist spy equipment to communicate.

The BBC has not been able to independently verify the claims. The UK government has a policy of neither confirming nor denying claims relating to intelligence