UK Counter-Terror Police Shifts Focus to China, Russia, Iran as Hostile State Threat Grows

An armed soldier and an armed police officer patrol the streets in London, on May 24, 2017. Carl Court/Getty Images

Britain’s counter-terrorism police chief has said the force is going through a “significant shift” as a growing part of its work is now focused on threats from hostile states such as China, Russia, and Iran.

Matt Jukes, head of counter-terrorism policing, said on Feb. 16 that the number of investigations into hostile state threats being carried out by his officers has “quadrupled” in the last two years.