Did China Plant a Tracking System in the British Prime Minister’s Car?

At a hearing, it was claimed that the device transmitted the location of the British prime minister’s car to China via a cellular module. / Walla, artificial intelligence Chinese espionage in Britain? Members of Parliament in London were briefed that a tracking device capable of transmitting data to China had been discovered in the official car used by the British prime minister.

The allegation came up during a hearing before a parliamentary committee. According to testimony presented to MPs, the device was discovered in 2022 during a security scan of an official vehicle used by the prime minister. According to the British Daily Mail, the surprising allegation was raised by Charles Parton, a senior associate at the Council on Geostrategy and a former British diplomat with decades of experience in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

In his appearance before the House of Commons Business and Trade Committee, Parton told MPs that the prime minister’s car had transmitted data to China through a cellular module. “The prime minister’s vehicle in 2022 was sending data to China through the cellular module,” he said. According to him, the information came from a senior government source. “A very senior member of government who knows for certain whose car it was told me,” he added.

It is still unclear which prime minister’s car was involved. Britain had three Conservative prime ministers during that period, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.

According to the report, the device was hidden inside a sealed component imported from China and installed by the vehicle manufacturer. Security officials found it during inspections of government vehicles used by ministers and diplomats.

Parton used the incident to warn lawmakers about the growing presence of Chinese-made cellular modules in everyday technology. “The Chinese are seeking to achieve a monopoly in the manufacture of cellular modules, and they are already doing quite well at it,” he told the committee. “If the Chinese wanted to shut down all your cars, because they all have cellular modules, it would not be difficult,” Parton said.

A government source told the Daily Mail that the authorities had not identified the claim regarding the prime minister’s car. “As a matter of long-standing policy, we never comment on security matters,” a government spokesperson said.

The Metropolitan Police in London, which is responsible for protecting the prime minister and operates official government vehicles, also declined to discuss the matter. “We do not comment on protective security matters,” a Scotland Yard spokesperson told the Daily Mail.

China rejected similar claims. “The accusations are groundless and pure rumor. We firmly oppose the political manipulation of normal economic and trade cooperation or any smearing of Chinese companies,” it said.