We know what you are doing, and in ministers' words today we "won't stand for it".
But in the wake of the collapsed China spying case last month, the security services also want to reestablish a badly dented sense of deterrence.
Politics latest: China responds to MI5's spy warning to MPs
That case against two British men accused of spying for Beijing fell apart because officials would not use the words "enemy" or "national security threat" to describe China.
The failure projected a sense of weakness in the face of Chinese espionage efforts, something the government is keen to dispel.
Those efforts remain persistent and dangerous, security officials insist.
China has always aggressively sought the official and commercial secrets of Western nations.
It regards that mission as a patriotic duty, an essential part of a national project to catch up with and then overtake the West.
In the words of Britain's security minister, Dan Jarvis, on Tuesday, China seeks "to interfere in our sovereign affairs in favour of its own interests".
Read more:
Parliamentarians warned of spying attempts from China agents
Indeed, much of China's technological and economic progress was, until recently, built on intellectual property stolen from rival nations.
Its private sector has been notorious for ripping off and reverse engineering Western know-how, pilfered from joint venture partners or through commercial espionage.
👉 Click here to listen to Electoral Dysfunction on your podcast app 👈
Intelligence agencies say the Chinese have also hoovered up vast amounts of personal data from all of us through social media platforms like TikTok and other methods, collecting in bulk for now, for sifting and harvesting later.
Officially, the Chinese government denies all these allegations. It has to be said that Western spies are also hard at work snooping on China.
But critics say Western nations have been naive and too trusting of the Chinese threat.
While the British government remains unsure whether to identify China as an enemy or simply a commercial rival, an ambivalence remains, which Beijing will continue doing its best to exploit.
Miles Cross, 33, admitted four counts of intentionally doing an act capable of encouraging or assisting the suicide of another.
Cross provided chemicals to Shubhreet Singh on 22 August last year, Wrexham Magistrates' Court heard during an October hearing.
Ms Singh, 26, died in West Yorkshire last year.
The three other counts relate to three victims who are alive and cannot be named due to reporting restrictions.
The incidents are said to have happened in August and September 2024.
Police are also investigating a second death in connection with the packages Cross sold online.
Cross had set up a business selling the chemical via an internet discussion forum and interacted with others on the forum under a pseudonym.
He joined the site in July 2024 and posted a QR code, which allowed people to order the chemical directly from him and pay via his bank account.
Cross received payments of £100 from four people and sent them the chemical through the post.
Cross, from Wrexham, was arrested in January following a police investigation into sales via the forum to assist with suicide. Officers found the chemical and other paraphernalia at his address.
His devices were seized, which linked Cross to the forum, social media profiles and the bank account.
"Miles Cross preyed on four people in a distressed state and knowingly provided a substance intended to end their lives," Alison Storey, specialist prosecutor with the CPS Special Crime Division, said.
"His actions were purely for financial gain, and he made the process of ordering the chemical online easy and accessible."
She said the case was a "stark reminder of the dangers posed by those who aim to exploit vulnerable individuals online", adding that the CPS hopes that Cross pleading guilty brings "some measure of justice" to the victims and their families.
North Wales Police's Detective Superintendent Chris Bell said: "Cross took advantage and exploited his victims in their most desperate moments, profiting off their vulnerability and mental illnesses.
"I hope today's admission provides the victims and their families with some peace of mind and relief that they are now spared the ordeal of a trial. My thoughts, and those of the whole investigation team, remain with them today."
Read more from Sky News:
Calls for reconstructive surgery for FGM on the NHS
Number of Britons leaving the UK higher than thought
He added: "This has been a highly complex and sensitive investigation over the past 10 months, and I want to acknowledge the courage of the witnesses who played an integral part in the investigation during such difficult circumstances."
Cross will be sentenced at Mold Crown Court on 7 January.
If you've been affected by this story and want to talk to someone, you can call Samaritans free on 116 123 anytime day or night. You can also email jo@samaritans.org or visit www.samaritans.org to find support online.
Prosecutors told a jury that Sharaz Ali was "motivated by jealousy and fuelled by drink and drugs" when he set fire to Bryonie Gawith's home early on 21 August last year.
Jurors heard that Ali went to the property, on Westbury Road, Bradford, aiming to "take revenge" on his ex, Antonia Gawith, who was staying there after ending their "abusive" seven-year relationship earlier that month.
Ali and his associate, Calum Sunderland, forced their way into the home before Ali poured petrol around inside and set it alight, Doncaster Crown Court was told.
Antonia Gawith managed to escape, but Bryonie Gawith, 29, and her children Denisty Birtle, nine, Oscar Birtle, five, and 22-month-old Aubree Birtle died in the fire.
Ali, 40, of no fixed address, and Sunderland, 26, of Keighley, are charged with murdering the family as well as attempting to murder Antonia Gawith.
Mohammed Shabir, 45, who had been due to go on trial with them, died of a heart attack last month after collapsing in jail.
Prosecutor David Brooke KC said the men drove from Keighley to Bradford just before 2am, stopping to buy a seven-litre can of petrol on the journey.
He told jurors that Ali was captured on ring doorbell footage telling Sunderland, who was carrying the petrol and a lighter, to "kick the door in", which he did before running back to the car.
Read more from Sky News
Snow falls in Cumbria after 'shocking' drop in temperature
What does Trump's Gaza peace plan look like?
Mr Brooke said Ali went inside the house and poured petrol on Antonia Gawith.
Antonia saw Bryonie, who had woken up, kick Ali as he was walking up the stairs, the court heard.
Mr Brooke said: "She (Antonia) managed to wrestle the container from him but he lit the lighter and a fire started including himself, the stairs and her sister.
"She ended up outside the closed front door and was then unable to get back inside.
"She ran around the back of the house but the back door had been jamming and she couldn't get it open despite her kicking it."
Footage played in court showed Shabir and Sunderland driving away before the fire "exploded into life".
The court heard that as Antonia was at the back of the house, her sister called 999.
The trial was told that when police arrived six minutes later, flames were engulfing the front of the house, and it was too late to save Bryonie and the children.
Mr Brooke said: "Sharaz Ali was himself caught by his own actions and was later pulled out of the house by the police badly injured."
The prosecutor also said: "The main mover in what happened was plainly Sharaz Ali.
"Motivated by jealousy and fuelled by drink and drugs it is obvious that he decided to take revenge on his ex-partner Antonia regardless of the potential consequences for others."
Ali and Sunderland deny the charges and the trial continues.
Scott McTominay's spectacular third-minute bicycle kick had given the hosts a half-time lead.
Rasmus Hojlund equalised for the Danes in the 57th minute shortly before Rasmus Kristensen was sent off, but Lawrence Shankland restored Scotland's advantage.
When Patrick Dorgu brought Denmark level for the second time with nine minutes remaining, it seemed they would claim the point needed to top the group and book their place at next year's tournament in the US, Canada and Mexico.
However, Tierney fired an unstoppable shot past Kasper Schmeichel in the third minute of stoppage time and then, with the Denmark goalkeeper up in attack at the other end of the pitch, McLean unleashed a long-range effort from his own half to spark delirious scenes.
The victory saw Scotland top Group C and secure automatic qualification for the 2026 World Cup.
Scotland captain Andy Robertson dedicated the victory to his former Liverpool teammate Diogo Jota, who died earlier this year in a car accident.
He told BBC Sport: "We certainly put the country through it, but I'm sure it will be worth it.
"I knew the age I'm at this would be my last chance to get to the World Cup.
"I couldn't get my mate Diogo Jota out of my head today. We spoke so much together about the World Cup. When he missed out in Qatar through injury and I missed out when Scotland never went.
"We always discussed what it would be like going to this World Cup. I know he'll be somewhere smiling over me tonight."
The draw for the 2026 World Cup will take place in Washington on 5 December.
The drone attack hit a car parked outside a mosque in the Ein el-Hilweh camp, near the southern Lebanese city of Sidon, according to the state-run National News Agency.
The ministry said 13 people died and several others were injured.
It was the deadliest strike on Lebanon since a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war a year ago.
The Israeli military said it had struck militants operating in a Hamas training compound within the camp, alleging that Hamas was using the facility to carry out attacks on Israel.
Hamas condemned the strike, saying: "The claims and allegations of the Zionist occupation army that the targeted location is a 'training compound belonging to the movement' are pure fabrication and lies, aimed at justifying its criminal aggression."
It said the strike targeted an open sports field used by residents of the camp, adding there were no military establishments in refugee camps in Lebanon.
The Israeli army said it would continue to act against the group wherever it operated.
Scores of officials from the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah and Palestinian factions have been killed over the past two years by Israeli airstrikes.
Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire in 2024 that required Hezbollah not to have any weapons in the south and for Israeli forces to fully withdraw from Lebanon.
Read more:
What is Hezbollah and how powerful is its military?
Israel strikes Beirut for first time since ceasefire deal
Hamas led the deadly attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people on 7 October 2023. Some 251 others were taken hostage.
In the war that followed, when Israel invaded the Gaza Strip, more than 69,000 Palestinians were killed, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority of deaths were women and children.