On Thursday afternoon (January 29th), British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who is on a visit to China, officially met with the leader of the Chinese Communist Party. The Prime Minister stated that the purpose of this visit is to improve the trade relationship between the UK and China, but it has sparked criticism within the UK for being too compromising towards the CCP. Additionally, it was revealed that the entire UK government team traveling to China was using “disposable electronic devices,” raising concerns about cybersecurity issues.
Sir Keir Starmer departed for Beijing on Wednesday (January 28th), marking the first official visit to China by a UK government leader since Prime Minister Theresa May’s visit in 2018. The three-day official itinerary began on Thursday, during which Starmer is scheduled to hold talks with several senior Chinese officials.
Before departing, Starmer told Cabinet ministers that the relationship between the UK and China in recent years has “plunged from a golden era into an Ice Age,” and his government will adopt a “strategic and consistent China policy.”
He argued that French President Emmanuel Macron has visited China three times, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and former US President Trump have also visited China, so he believes that the UK would “miss out on opportunities” if it does not engage with China, with expectations of bringing “significant business opportunities” from this trip.
Despite emphasizing commercial interests, the UK Prime Minister still insists that the protection of national security is non-negotiable and promises to raise concerns about issues such as the case of Jimmy Lai during the meeting.
However, this visit to China is facing strong opposition within the UK. The last British governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten, emphasized that if Starmer only briefly mentions the Jimmy Lai issue before the end of the meeting, it would be just for show to the media and not truly convincing to the public.
The current leader of the UK Conservative Party and Opposition Leader, Kemi Badenoch, questioned Starmer’s decision to visit Beijing. She stated that the UK should focus on strengthening relations with allies who are “concerned about the Chinese (CCP) threat.”
Luke de Pulford, executive director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), criticized that the CCP has “limited interest” in investing in the UK unless it involves critical national infrastructure, which is currently restricted.
He criticized, “The Prime Minister seems to want to rebuild the golden era of (UK-China relations), but this idea is no longer viable. Most people in the country, parliament, and government are now unwilling to deal with the CCP because our past naive and childish attitude towards the CCP is dissipating.”
Daisy Cooper, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the UK House of Commons, strongly criticized the Prime Minister’s trip to Beijing to seek a trade agreement as a “subservient” mistake, stating that “the CCP is still detaining British citizen Jimmy Lai and continuing to crackdown on dissenters overseas.”
Starmer recently approved the controversial plan for the CCP to build a “super embassy” in London. Starmer met with Xi Jinping during the G20 Summit held in Brazil in November 2024, and several UK ministers have visited China. The UK Conservative Party has accused the ruling Labour party of being too compromising on issues related to the CCP.
While a spokesperson for the UK Prime Minister stated that 10 Downing Street (the UK Prime Minister’s residence) has implemented “strong communication security measures” and Starmer is confident that his phone is not being monitored by the CCP, the high level of security measures taken by his delegation still sparked debates.
According to reports from The Times, to prevent CCP eavesdropping or surveillance, the UK Prime Minister and his team decided to leave all government-issued devices in the UK and instead bring disposable phones and laptops to China. Other accompanying officials were also instructed not to carry any personal electronic devices.
These concerns are not unfounded. The Daily Telegraph recently revealed that the phones of core advisers of the three former UK Prime Ministers, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak, were targeted by CCP hackers, with some devices possibly being compromised.
Two months ago (around December last year), MI5 warned members of parliament and nobles that CCP intelligence officers were attempting to infiltrate the parliament to obtain sensitive information. Intelligence sources indicated that CCP hackers’ operation codenamed “Salt Typhoon” in 2021 was believed to still be ongoing.
A journalist who accompanied former UK Prime Minister Theresa May on a visit to China recalled in 2024 that his phone was suspected to have been hacked during that trip.
Furthermore, during Theresa May’s visit to China in 2018, security measures for the government team were heightened to prevent CCP espionage. It was reported that during Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s visit to China in 2008, one of his aides had their phone stolen, suspected of falling victim to a “honey trap,” prompting the UK government to tighten related measures.
Similar security concerns have been raised in allied countries. When Canadian Prime Minister Marc Carney visited China in mid-January this year, the accompanying media were unprecedentedly required to use disposable devices. These devices (phones and laptops) do not store any contacts and do not log into any social media accounts, network services, or any other services while in Beijing, and are instantly destroyed upon return to prevent the installation of malicious software.
In fact, former Canadian diplomats and media reports have repeatedly pointed out that in recent years, Canadian officials visiting China have been provided with disposable phones and computers, which are destroyed upon return to Canada after use. This practice aims to avoid personal or government devices being infiltrated with malicious software, remotely accessed, or intercepted communications.
In addition to electronic devices, the transportation means for Starmer’s trip also became a focal point. Tom Tugendhat, former Security Minister and Conservative Party MP, stated on January 29th and 28th that the UK government team, for their visit to China, not only chose to use disposable phones to evade espionage activities but even rented a “disposable aircraft.”
He mentioned on social media on January 28th, “Starmer’s team not only took disposable phones to China to evade spy activities, but they also rented a disposable aircraft! This is because if the government plane stays in China, it needs 24-hour surveillance to prevent CCP from installing listening devices. Therefore, they decided to leave the official plane in the UK and rent a civilian plane!”
A government source clarified to The Metro that the decision to utilize a British Airways plane was due to the larger size of the accompanying delegation. Nearly 60 business leaders and dozens of journalists were part of this delegation, exceeding the capacity of the government plane. The source cited a similar arrangement during a UK business delegation’s visit to India in October last year, which also had over 120 delegates.
Moreover, Iain Duncan Smith, who has been sanctioned by the CCP for criticizing human rights issues, revealed that UK officials even carried portable tents with them to set up in the UK Prime Minister’s room, allowing him to avoid potential surveillance by hidden cameras while changing.