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The UK has announced the arrests of three men suspected of working with Chinese intelligence services.

According to London’s Metropolitan Police, the suspects include a 39-year-old man detained in London, a 68-year-old man arrested in Powys, Wales, and a 43-year-old man arrested in Pontyclun, Wales. Authorities said the arrests were part of an ongoing investigation into alleged foreign interference linked to China.

Police have not formally named the suspects, but British media reports said the 39-year-old man was David Taylor, the husband of Labour Member of Parliament Joani Reid. Reid, who represents East Kilbride and Strathaven, said in a statement that she had “never seen anything to make me suspect my husband has broken any law.” She added, “I am not part of my husband’s business activities and neither I nor my children are part of this investigation.”

Police said searches were conducted at the properties where the men were arrested, as well as at other addresses in London, Wales, and Scotland.

In a statement, Security Minister Dan Jarvis said the government is “deeply concerned by an increasing pattern of covert activity from Chinese state-linked actors targeting UK democracy.” He added that authorities will challenge “any country, including China, that attempts to interfere with or undermine the integrity of our democratic institutions.”

China’s embassy in London rejected the allegations and criticized the arrests. In a statement, the embassy condemned what it called attempts to “fabricate facts and concoct so-called ‘espionage cases’ to maliciously slander China,” adding that it had lodged a protest with the UK government.