Chinese monitoring units had been put in in Rishi Sunak official prime ministerial automotive, Sir Iain Duncan Smith has stated.
The former Conservative chief stated he was “reliably told” that vehicles utilized by Downing Street needed to be stripped and a monitoring machine was discovered inside a SIM card.
Accusing Beijing of being behind a plot to observe Mr Sunak’s journeys, he stated the Chinese authorities have the aptitude “to be able to throw the switch, as it were … as and when they wish”.
He instructed LBC: “Those devices that they’ve been putting into Downing Street cars, although they won’t admit it, tracking where the prime minister was going, knowing who he was seeing, this is exactly what they can do with batteries and with their cars.”
“It was never absolutely confirmed – of course they wouldn’t do for security reasons – but I’m pretty reliably told that they had to strip out the cars to find the devices based in the little SIMs, and they were capable and were tracking the cars and the car journeys,” stated Sir Iain.
The i reported in January {that a} authorities automotive had been “dismantled surgically” and “rather disturbing things” – a hidden monitoring machine – was discovered inside.
An intelligence officer stated the machine was discovered inside an element imported from a China-based provider.
The supply stated it could enable somebody to “survey government over a period of months and years, constantly filing movements, constantly building up a rich picture of activity”.
Ex-Tory chief and main China hawk Sir Iain Duncan Smith
(PA Archive)
But Chinese officers dismissed the claims on the time as “sheer rumour” and criticised “political manipulation on normal economic and trade cooperation or any smear on Chinese enterprises”.
Asked about Mr Duncan Smith’s declare a tool had been put in in Mr Sunak’s automotive, the PM’s official spokesman stated: “I can’t get into commenting on security issues.”
The No 10 official added: “We have very comprehensive security protection measures in place, but I can’t comment on specifics.”
It comes as some Tories warned that electrical vehicles imported from China may assist Beijing to spy on British residents. Members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China – together with Sir Iain – concern the British automotive business dangers compromised by Beijing.
The group stated Britain may develop into “flooded” with Chinese vehicles and batteries alongside “with all the attendant security risks”.
“It is hard to conceive of a more critical infrastructure to everyday life in the UK, and it is absolutely wrong to allow control of such a key industry to be handed to authoritarian Beijing.”