Admission comes as British government responds to damning report on efforts to counter Chinese interference.

Chinese spies are actively trying to recruit Brits “with sensitive knowledge and experience,” the U.K. government claimed Thursday, as it defended its efforts to clamp down on interference by Beijing.

In a long-awaited response to a piercing report about the U.K.’s efforts to take on Chinese spying, Rishi Sunak’s government said some of Beijing’s work “crosses the line from influence into interference” — and accepted it needs to up its game.

The report came as Westminster continues to digest news that a British parliamentary researcher with links to senior Conservatives had been arrested in March on suspicion of spying for China, as first reported by the Sunday Times.