UK counter terrorism police arrested three men suspected of spying for China’s foreign intelligence service under the National Security Act 2023. This isn’t some low-level intrigue; it’s a direct assault on our national security. The suspects have deep connections to the Labour Party, including the husband of a sitting Labour MP and former advisers from the Tony Blair era. If this isnt another example of how we all need to wake up to Starmer’s corrupt and communist government, I don’t know what will.

The 3 arrests happened across London and Wales. A 39-year-old man in London, a 68-year-old in Powys, and a 43-year-old in Pontyclun. Properties were searched in London, Cardiff, and even East Kilbride, Scotland where Scottish Labour MP Joani Reid, whose husband, David Taylor, is reportedly the 39 year old suspect. Reid’s quick to say she’s seen no evidence of wrongdoing and isn’t part of the probe but Media reports tie the other two to ex-Labour figures, with at least a couple serving as advisers during Blair’s time. They’re still in custody, unnamed officially, but the Metropolitan Police confirmed it’s all about assisting China’s intelligence operations.

I say again, China is a clear and present danger to the UK

Security Minister Dan Jarvis didn’t mince words in Parliament. This is squarely about China, and UK officials have already confronted their counterparts in London and Beijing. Experts like Kerry Brown from King’s College London are pointing to the strained UK-China relations under Starmer, where economic ties are dangled like carrots while espionage runs rampant. This is yet another attack on UK democracy, especially after Stamer caves on the mega Chinese spay embassy in London.

But this isn’t an isolated incident. China’s been hacking, spying, and exerting negative influencing the UK for years and Starmer’s Labour seems either blind or complicit. Drawing from recent exposés, here’s a bullet-point history of the hacks and scandals we have reported on;

• Mass Data Harvesting by Chinese Hackers: China ran a years-long operation, dubbed Salt Typhoon since 2021, harvesting personal data from every British citizen, including classified info, research, and business IP. GCHQ and the NCSC named three Chinese firms as culprits, targeting telecoms, government, transport, and military sectors across 80 countries. It’s a “harvest now, decrypt later” strategy, stockpiling encrypted data for quantum breakthroughs. China’s poured £11 billion into this tech, outpacing the UK and US.

• Starmer’s Approval of the Chinese Mega Spy Embassy: Despite MI5 warnings, Starmer approved a massive embassy in London at Royal Mint Court, a surveillance fortress with 208 secret basement rooms, hidden chambers over critical data cables for the London Stock Exchange, and hot-air systems hinting at spying gear. It’s next to fiberoptic lines, perfect for tapping into metadata of millions. US allies are horrified, threatening intel-sharing, and it’s seen as a Trojan horse for CCP operations in Europe.

• Collapsed Spying Cases and Government Cover-Ups: A high profile case against two men spying for Beijing fell apart because civil servants wouldn’t declare China a national security threat. MI5’s Ken McCallum warns of daily threats, with a 35% spike in investigations. Boris Johnson knew of a 2020 breach but it was hushed up until Dominic Cummings spilled that China nabbed vast classified data from intelligence services.

• Labour’s Dodgy Donations from Chinese Agents: MP Barry Gardiner took £500,000 from Christine Lee, flagged by MI5 as a CCP United Front agent pushing Beijing’s agenda. He resigned in 2022 amid the scandal, highlighting how China’s cultivating influence in UK politics.

• Infrastructure Sabotage Risks: Chinese-made Yutong buses in UK cities like Bristol could have remote kill switches for control or disablement, under probe by the Department for Transport and NCSC. Similar issues with Chinese solar panels and inverters. Plus, a decade of hacks on government systems for data harvesting.

• TikTok’s Data Grab on Brits: ByteDance’s app hoovers up sensitive data, especially from kids including device details, keystrokes, biometrics, all then made accessible to the Chinese government. UK fines followed for misuse, with risks of profiling and harmful content amplification.

• Chagos Islands Handover Blunder: Starmer’s deal ceding sovereignty to Mauritius protects the Diego Garcia base for 99 years but opens doors for China to gain a military foothold in the Indian Ocean, endangering Western interests.

This pattern is undeniable. China’s aggression is met with weak responses from Starmer. Remember his China visit where the delegation needed burner phones to avoid spying? Yet he pushes visa free travel and ignores preconditions like freeing British citizen Jimmy Lai. Shadow Minister Alicia Kearns and even Donald Trump have called it out, stating that pandering to Beijing is dangerous but Starmer continues to be a traitor to the UK.

We need to designate China a full national security threat. Starmer’s putting growth over security, but at what cost? Our data, our democracy, our future. Time to demand action before the next scandal hits, because it will, and it will be much worse that all those that have come before now they have their mega spy embassy in the heart of London next to critical communications cabling.

The betrayal of Jimmy Lai by Kier Starmer after recent China events and welcoming the ugly el-Fattah who hates our country and people, now living at taxpayers expense, is now the defining symbol of this administration’s spineless approach to national security.

At Ubiquitous Reach, we’ve tracked the escalating pattern of CCP aggression, from the hacking of our electoral rolls to the digital siege of Westminster. But the most recent move by Prime Minister Starmer isn’t just a security failure, it’s a utter moral collapse.

Keir Starmer posted on X: “I’m delighted that Alaa Abd el-Fattah is back in the UK and has been reunited with his loved ones... Alaa’s case has been a top priority for my Government.”

A British citizen left out in the cold

Jimmy Lai is a British passport holder. He is a man who stood for the very values that Starmer claims to hold dear; free speech, democracy, and the rule of law. Unlike el-Fattah who openly hates us, Lai faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life behind bars for the crime of journalism. His very own government who fly their Union Flag as press conferences has decided that a crumbs from the table trade deal and a super spy embassy is more important than his freedom.

By approving the massive Royal Mint Court Super Embassy in London, a project our own security services warned against, the Prime Minister handed Beijing their biggest win of the decade. He gave away the ultimate bargaining chip for nothing.

The art of the bad deal

In any serious diplomatic negotiation, a British citizen’s life would be the first item on the agenda. Instead, we have witnessed a masterclass in capitulation:

• The Unconditional Gift: We granted China the right to build a sprawling espionage hub in the heart of London before securing any concessions on Mr. Lai’s behalf.

• The Silent Treatment: While the Prime Minister enjoys state banquets in Beijing, the calls for Jimmy Lai’s release have been relegated to “private concerns” rather than public demands.

• The Reward for Hostility: Despite the well documented hacks targeting our Ministry of Defence, the government is treating the CCP like a trusted partner while they hold a Briton hostage. They are not to be trusted, China is not our friend.

Why this really matters

This isn’t just about one man. It’s about what a British passport is actually worth under this government. If we aren’t willing to stand up for a citizen being persecuted by a hostile state, how can we expect to stand up to the systemic threats the CCP poses to our infrastructure and our democracy?

By choosing to prioritise a Super Embassy over the life of Jimmy Lai, Starmer has sent a clear message to the world. British sovereignty and British lives are up for sale.

China hasn’t just insulted us; they have seen our price. And it is shockingly low.

Want to read more about the dangers China have posed? https://www.ubiquitousreach.org/s/china

The British delegation departed amid reports that they were forced to use burner phones and scrubbed laptops due to the extreme risk of Chinese state espionage. It is the ultimate irony. Our Prime Minister sitting across the table trying to ‘build bridges’ with a socialist regime so untrustworthy that his own security team won’t let the delegates use their own phones .

The great spy embassy betrayal

While Starmer tells us he is there to build bridges for Britain and great riches await us, the reality he is selling us out for nothing, again. You think it’s just coincidence that just after approving the massive new Chinese mega spy embassy in London, bringing huge risks to the capital and all of Europe, he then just so happens to jet off to Beijing? Its not. He capitulated to China the same way he did when he collapsed the spy case and as soon as he had passed teh spy embassy, he is then allowed to visit to talk trade, or rather sell us out for peanuts even more.

Remember this embassy debacle isn’t about any plot of land, the site sits directly over critical communication cables serving the London Stock Exchange and Canary Wharf. Despite years of sustained cyber hacks against UK infrastructure and repeated, frantic warnings from our own security services, Starmer is essentially handing the keys to our financial nerve centre and access to Europe to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The controversy just escalated when The Telegraph revealed unredacted plans for the site that shows:

• 208 secret rooms in a massive basement complex.

• A hidden chamber located just one meter away from the sensitive communication and data cables.

• Hot-air extraction systems near the cables, which experts suggest indicates the presence of heavy computing equipment used for electronic surveillance or data interception.

Starmer says his visit serves to protects our security, really? Honestly?

Starmer had the audacity to claim that ‘engaging with China is how we secure growth for British businesses, support good jobs at home and protect our national security.’

Protect our security? Is this a joke? He is simply gaslighting us. We have been under a sustained barrage of state sponsored hacks for years. To suggest that deepening our dependency on a hostile actor protects us isn’t just naive, it’s gaslighting. It’s lies. but don’t worry he has also secured visa free travel for those who can afford it, wow what a win.

Shadow National Security Minister Alicia Kearns hit the nail on the head during a recent interview with Times Radio. She rightly pointed out the total lack of backbone in Starmer’s negotiations. Kearns noted that she would have made the release of British citizen Jimmy Lai a non-negotiable precondition.

‘Why is it okay for China to set preconditions... but we go without having put any ourselves?’ Kearns asked. She highlighted the grim reality: while the UK asked for nothing, the CCP clearly demanded and received the sign-off on their new London spy hub in return for some scraps from their table.

‘I would have put a precondition that I was not going to go if I was prime minister, unless Jimmy Lai was coming home with me. I would also put a precondition in the six months leading up to the visit that I wanted a reduction in hostile acts against our country. But that’s not what we saw. And actually, in contrast, what we saw was clearly the Chinese Communist Party did put a precondition, which was that the new embassy in London had to be signed off. So why is it okay for China to set preconditions and to make very clear red lines about what they require for a visit, but we go without having put any ourselves?’ Alicia Kearns

Following the disaster of the Chagos islands, Donald Trump warned the government yet again that pandering to China’s will and doing business with them under these terms is ‘very dangerous’. While Starmer brushes these concerns off as being all about Canada, anyone with half a brain understands this is utter rubbish.

A bad deal for Britain, as always

Reports from Guido Fawkes reveal that Starmer’s much trumpeted breakthroughs in China are worth a pathetic 0.2% (£250 million over five years) of the value of the trade deals currently being negotiated with India, ironically another betrayal of British workers where Indian companies pay less tax than UK companies allowing them to undercut UK workers.

We are compromising our national security, betraying the United Kingdom and Europe for nothing. But wait, he has also secured these useless agreements too;

• Visa free travel for UK citizens.

• Investigating a possible trade in services agreement.

• Co-operation on organised crime.

• Strengthening the UK / China Joint Economic and Trade Commission.

• Agreements to co-operate on standards.

• Easing rules for exports to China.

And what exactly are we ‘growing’ here Mr Starmer? He talks about good jobs, but it’s just low paid low skilled selling us low value products, as demonstrated with the bizarre endorsement of Chinese toy firms accused of exploiting workers and operating under conditions that fly in the face of the employment standards Starmer claims to champion at home.

Starmer embarrassed us again on the global stage

Starmer went to Beijing to look like a statesman, he came back looking like a poorer Oliver Twist. He has traded our long term security and our moral standing for a negligible trade bump and spy embassy that will haunt our intelligence services for decades, and we know who will pay for it all, the British taxpayer. I remember you saying Country before Party Keir, what ever happened to that?

Britain deserves a leader who puts our security before the CCP. Instead, we have a Prime Minister who leaves his real phone at home but leaves the door to our digital infrastructure and nations security wide open.

In a humiliating climbdown, the Labour government has officially pulled the British Indian Ocean Territory Bill from the House of Lords. The plan to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius that has been argued by Starmer as a legal requirement that never was, and by extension, handing a strategic victory to Chinese interests in the Indian Ocean, is currently dead in the water.

For months, Lammy, Starmer and all his MPs have been gaslighting the British public, claiming this deal was a legal necessity and that our allies were totally on board. That house of cards collapsed the moment President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to call the move what it is; An act of great stupidity. Total weakness.

Trump didn’t mince words, pointing out that while he’s looking to secure strategic assets like Greenland to protect the West, Starmer is busy giving ours away for no reason whatsoever. The contrast couldn’t be sharper. One leader is playing chess for national security, the other is playing submissive for a pat on the head from international left leaning human rights lawyers and the Chinese. And talking of the Chinese, I would love to be a fly on the wall this week when Starmer arrives for talks in Beijing…but they got their EU listening post so they will probably be happy.

To be fair it wasn’t just the pressure from the US. The Conservative opposition, led by Kemi Badenoch and Priti Patel, successfully exposed the legal rot at the heart of this deal. They hammered home;

• The 1966 Treaty: Peers pointed out that ceding sovereignty likely breaches our existing treaty with the US, which enshrines British control over the archipelago.

• The China Factor: Critics have long warned that Mauritius is deeply tied to Beijing. Handing them sovereignty over the waters surrounding the Diego Garcia base is effectively rolling out the red carpet for Chinese surveillance.

• Taxpayer Lies: Let’s not forget the price tag. Starmer wanted us to pay Mauritius for the privilege of giving away our own land and then we found out he blatantly lied on the costs of the deal.

Utter humiliation on a global scale, again

This isn’t just a policy delay, it’s a total humiliation for a government that seems more interested in decolonisation than actually defending the realm, going along with Lammy and his ‘we want reparations’ narrative he squeals about at every opportunity. Starmer tried to hide behind the cover of this decision being international law, but it wasnt, he lies and now thanks to Trump he has run head first into a wall of common sense and American resolve.

Even Darren Jones who famously said that the dinghies are all full of families who need our help when just under 90% were male according to the Governments own figures, has been community noted on X parroting the line that its all been signed so we can do nothing, is a lie, or lets be kind, he is mistaken (incompetent).

Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel called it a major victory for those standing against the Chagos surrender and she’s right. Britain’s sovereignty shouldn’t be a bargaining chip for a Prime Minister who doesn’t understand the value of the ground he stands on.

Katie Lam also posted on X this being another humiliating climbdown on the international stage and she is right too. Honestly, in every measure the United Kingdom is a laughing stock across the globe at the moment.

And this wont be the last we hear about the Chagos islands believe me.

Once again; Rupert Lowe, Ben Habib, we need you.

While many of us were distracted by the WEF cult meeting in Davos, the Labour government quietly signed the death warrant for our national data security. The decision to approve the new Chinese Mega Embassy at the Royal Mint Court isn’t just a planning permission grant, it is an incomprehensible act of capitulation that places a hostile state’s intelligence apparatus in the very beating heart of our capital and right next to data cables at the very heart of our communications network.

Only yesterday, Keir Starmer stood before the cameras, and told the British public his government would put Britain’s interest first. Today, that promise lies in tatters.

The Mega Embassy Myth

Let’s be clear about what has just been agreed to. This is not a diplomatic outpost, it is a surveillance fortress covered by the laws of the CCP. We are handing over the Royal Mint Court which is a site of historic significance to the UK to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to build what will effectively be the largest spy base in Europe complete with secret underground rooms and more than 200 extra staff on site.

Iain Duncan Smith’s appearance on Sky News today was perfect in tone, a chilling wake up call that every Briton needs to hear. He rightly dismantled the government’s narrative, exposing the mitigations Labour claim to have desperately put in place to allow them to approve the embassy for what they are, an utter fantasy, a delision.

The cable guy

The most egregious deception from the government concerns the data cables. For months, we have been fed platitudes that the risk to the critical internet infrastructure running beneath the site could be managed after initially denying they ever existed. The proposed site sits directly on top of the primary fiberoptic arteries that feed the City of London and the London Stock Exchange.

We are not talking about a few phone lines. We are talking about the neural pathways of our financial sector. The government is fully aware of this. They know that the plans include deep basements and hidden rooms, perfect environments for tapping directly into the data stream without ever leaving sovereign Chinese soil. To approve this site is insanity, you are inviting China to have access to our most sensitive data.

Deaf to intelligence

It is not just the politicians sounding the alarm. If you look past the official signed off statements, the discomfort from our intelligence community is palpable.

MI5 and GCHQ have issued repeated, veiled warnings about the impossibility of wholly eliminating the risk from this new embassy. Basically they are being polite expedient saying there is a risk and they cant stop it. Our Five Eyes partners, particularly in the United States, are watching with horror. They understand what Starmer seemingly ignores. You cannot share sensitive intelligence with a partner who allows the adversary to set up a listening post next door. This decision doesn’t just threaten our data, it threatens our standing in the single most important security alliance we have.

Then there are the global corporations in London whose secret communications are flowing in those cables. You think the likes of Oracle, Morgan Stanley, Revolut or KPMG will want to stay when work starts on this project? Not a chance.

The evidence is only a Google away

We cannot say we weren’t warned. A review of the recent analysis from our other blog posts (links below) confirms the terrifying picture of exactly what we have just signed up for.

• Mass Data Harvest: GCHQ’s warnings highlights, the CCP’s strategy is not traditional espionage; it is a ‘harvest everything, decrypt later’ approach. By sitting on the cables, they don’t need to target individuals, they can vacuum up the metadata of millions.

• The “Super Embassy” Reality: This facility is a trojan horse. This isn’t about visas or trade promotion, it’s a hardened command center for operations on Britain and the EU.

• A History of Hacks: We have already seen major Chinese hacks exposing our vulnerabilities. To pretend that a physical fortress in London won’t supercharge these capabilities is wilfully naive.

An utter betrayal

With a trip to Beijing likely on the cards, the Prime Minister has evidently decided that a potential trade boost is worth the price of giving away our national security. He has traded the long term safety of our digital infrastructure for a short term economic propaganda.

The government has lied about the cables. They have ignored the distress signals from our allies. And they have broken their promise to put Britain first.

As the construction crews move in to turn the Royal Mint into a fortress for the CCP, we must ask ourselves: Is this the behaviour of a serious nation? Or have we just become a client state to the highest bidder?

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)

The primary target of the hack was the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). Specifically, the breach affected servers that the FCDO operates on behalf of the Home Office.

Minister for Trade Chris Bryant confirmed the incident in late December, describing it as a ‘technical issue in one of our sites’ that allowed unauthorised access. While the government says the vulnerability was closed quickly, the time between the breach in October and its public confirmation has raised questions about transparency, as with most things relating to China and this government.

What was stolen?

According to investigative reports from The Sun and The Independent, the damage may be extensive:

• Visa Applications: Hackers reportedly gained access to systems containing the personal details of tens of thousands of visa applicants.

• Confidential Documents: Thousands of sensitive internal documents and data files were allegedly retrieved during the breach.

• National Security Implications: Experts warn that such espionage is often used to build intelligence profiles on individuals or to map out the internal deliberations of the UK government.

Minister Bryant has sought to downplay the personal risk, stating the government is ‘fairly confident’ that there is a low risk to any specific individuals being harmed by the data loss. Utter nonsense, this is serious.

Storm 1849

While the UK government has been evasive about official attribution, intelligence sources and media reports have pointed the finger directly at China. From our contacts in the security industry, this has been confirmed as accurate.

The group responsible have been identified is Storm 1849, also known by cybersecurity researchers as ArcaneDoor. This group has a history of targeting political figures and organisations critical of the Chinese government and was previously linked to the 2024 cyberattacks on the UK Electoral Commission and various MPs.

The Political Fallout and Accusations

The timing of the hack is diplomatically awkward, to say the least. It comes just weeks before Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s planned visit to Beijing in late January 2026, the first such visit by a UK PM since 2018.

Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel has led the charge against the Labour government, accusing them of turning a blind eye to Chinese aggression in an attempt to improve trade relations. Our ears are hearing swapping safety and security of the United Kingdom and its citizens for a £100m a year in trade. Other critics argue that the government’s refusal to officially blame China, despite intelligence pointing that way, is also a sign of weakness.

Let’s not forget the previous hacks, the new Super Embassy debacle, Chinese threats to the UK and the government collapsing a spy trial when they would not describe China as a threat.

Unsurprisingly, the Chinese Embassy in London has issued a stern denial. A spokesperson described the reports as false accusations and malicious smearing, asserting that China is a staunch defender of cybersecurity and a victim of hacking itself.

The October hack serves as a stark reminder of the grey zone warfare currently playing out between global powers. As the UK attempts to reset its relationship with China for economic reasons, this breach highlights the massive security risks that come with engaging an autocratic regime that views data as a primary tool of statecraft.

The Department for Transport (DfT) and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) are examining the potential vulnerability to interference in the buses, which are used across the UK in locations including Bristol, Nottingham, and South Yorkshire.

The DfT stated it is working closely with the NCSC to understand the technical basis for actions taken by Norwegian and Danish authorities, emphasising that it takes security issues extremely seriously.

The investigation follows findings by Norway’s public transport service, Ruter, which concluded that Yutong buses could theoretically be “stopped or rendered inoperable” by the company. Denmark has also launched its own inquiry.

This brings into sharp focus the relationship of the UK and China governments. Time and again China is proving its a substantial threat and we believe they are a clear and present danger to the uk but Starmer continues to engage despite the risks.

Let’s not forget the recent incidents.

Labour MP received £500,000 donations from CCP

Barry Gardiner, the Labour MP for Brent West (formerly Brent North), received significant donations from a woman later identified as an agent for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), used to help run his political office where Christine Lee’s son was employed as his diary manager. He resigned immediately after the scandal broke in 2022. MI5 stated that Lee was knowingly engaged in “political interference activities” on behalf of the United Front Work Department (UFWD) of the Chinese Communist Party with the specific aim to cultivate relationships with influential figures to ensure the UK political landscape was favourable to the CCP’s agenda.

US finds kill switches in renewables from China

The US has discovered alarming security vulnerabilities in Chinese-made renewable energy hardware, specifically solar inverters and panels. Investigations have uncovered rogue communication components and suspected “kill switches” embedded in equipment installed across the US power grid.

These devices, which manage the flow of electricity from solar farms, could theoretically be remotely disabled or rendered inoperable by the Chinese manufacturer. As a growing portion of the US grid relies on renewables, this potential vulnerability represents an urgent national security threat, providing China with the ability to sabotage critical infrastructure and trigger widespread blackouts in a crisis. This echoes the similar concerns in the UK regarding Chinese made Yutong buses.

Data hacking & the collapsed spying case

Concerns over Chinese state influence extend deeply into cyber espionage. Reports indicate that China has systematically hacked UK government systems for over a decade, gaining access to documents classified at low and medium security levels. Experts warn that the goal of this sustained effort is to harvest large volumes of encrypted data now for potential decryption later, using future technology like quantum computing.

This context of deep seated cyber threat was underscored by the recent collapse of a high-profile UK prosecution against two men accused of spying for Beijing. The case was dropped after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) stated it could not prove that China posed a national security threat at the time of the alleged offences, leading to political fallout and prompting calls to overhaul the antiquated Official Secrets Act. The failure of the case highlighted a perceived reluctance by the government to formally designate China as a national security threat, despite consistent warnings from intelligence chiefs.

Super Embassy & MI5’s grave concerns

The building of a new, massive Chinese embassy complex in London has been flagged by MI5 as a specific security concern. The size and location of the development, which has been dubbed a “super-embassy,” are seen as presenting an unprecedented intelligence risk for British security services.

MI5 Director General Sir Ken McCallum has repeatedly warned that Chinese state actors pose a national security threat to the UK “every day,” actively engaging in cyber espionage, technology transfer, and interference in UK public life. The new embassy is perceived as a potential intelligence hub that could enable the Chinese state to conduct large scale clandestine operations in the heart of the UK capital with greater operational security.

China threats regarding trade deal

After the UK government repeatedly delayed the final planning decision for the embassy, a decision facing heavy opposition from MI5 and lawmakers, the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a public threat of “consequences” for the UK. A spokesperson for Beijing accused the UK of showing “disregard for contractual spirit, acting in bad faith and without integrity” over the embassy site, warning that the UK side would “bear all consequences” if it did not immediately honour its supposed commitments.

You may recall that the UK government faced stinging criticism for a point blank refusal to give details on Rachel Reeves’s China trip, for the perceived lack of substance and the political optics of the deals secured during the Economic and Financial Dialogue. While the Chancellor announced agreements worth an estimated £600 million over five years, primarily focused on market access for financial services, agri-food, and regulatory cooperation, critics, including China hawks and political opponents, immediately dismissed this figure as “puny” or “delusional” relative to the risks. The government’s core message is that the visit was crucial for establishing a “stable and balanced relationship” that allows the UK to promote growth while also candidly raising concerns about national security, human rights (like the Jimmy Lai case), and support for Russia, framing the engagement as a pragmatic necessity because China is the world’s second-largest economy.

But in reality we don’t know what was agreed and how much the UK government is in the pocket of China.

TikTok child data harvested and accessible by Chinese government

The primary risk associated with TikTok stems from its extensive collection of user data, kids data. This includes sensitive personal information, device details, keystroke patterns, and even potentially biometric data like voice and face recognition. Concerns are heightened because its parent company, ByteDance, is based in China, leading to international skepticism about whether the data could be made accessible to the Chinese government. Furthermore, regulatory bodies have found that TikTok has illegally collected and processed data from children under the age of 13, often failing to secure verifiable parental consent or remove underage users despite being aware of their presence. This accumulated data is used for tracking, profiling, and targeted advertising, which raises significant privacy and cybersecurity red flags for all users, especially minors.

For children, the risks extend beyond privacy to their mental health and exposure to harmful content. TikTok’s highly sophisticated and addictive algorithmic system, which is trained on young people’s data, has been accused of rapidly steering vulnerable users toward content that can reinforce negative ethnic stereotypes, misogynistic views, self harm, and eating disorders. This algorithmic amplification of potentially harmful content poses a direct threat to the physical and emotional well-being of young Europeans and others globally. Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age, underscored this by stating: “TikTok needs to take a close look at the services they offer and carefully consider the risks that they pose to their users - young as well as old.” The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) fined the company for misusing children’s data, with the regulator noting that: “TikTok should have known better. TikTok should have done better.”

Chagos Islands deal risk

The strategic importance of the Chagos Archipelago, which hosts the vital joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia, presents a complex future threat. The UK is proceeding with a deal to hand sovereignty over the islands to Mauritius. While the deal protects the operation of the military base for at least 99 years, the change in sovereignty has opened a geopolitical door.

Some UK and US officials have voiced concern that, in the event of the long term lease not being extended or secured, a Mauritian controlled territory could be leveraged by China. China has shown increasing interest in establishing footholds in the Indian Ocean, and critics fear that an eventual Chinese military or surveillance presence in the archipelago could severely compromise the strategic value of the Diego Garcia base and threaten Western military dominance in the region.

China is not our friend, wake up Starmer and smell the espionage.

Browsers like Brave, DuckDuckGo, and Tor can help your privacy. But not all so-called privacy browsers are safe. Security researchers have flagged a dangerous exception with millions of downloads: the Universe Browser.

Advertised primarily in China as a secure way to bypass censorship and access online gambling sites, the Chrome-derived Universe Browser promises anonymity. In reality it delivers the opposite.

According to a report from Infoblox and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, this application functions less like a browser and more like a Remote Access Trojan (RAT). Once installed, it performs a frightening array of surveillance:

• Records user location and keystrokes.

• Routes all traffic data through servers in China.

• Installs keyloggers and changes network settings.

• Takes screenshots of your browsing activity.

• On Windows, it can even replace your genuine Chrome executable file.

The browser is promoted to customers of the Baoying Group, which researchers link to the notorious Triad criminal network, dubbed Vault Viper. This group profits from illegal online gambling, cybercrime, and money laundering.

The data collected — including monitoring your clipboard and system info — is perfectly leveraged for tracking potentially wealthy gamblers, making them targets for identity theft, blackmail, or further malware attacks. The browser even attempts to evade antivirus detection and sends encrypted data to servers associated with Vault Viper.

The Universe Browser appears to be custom-made for this criminal operation, primarily targeting users in China and Taiwan. While mobile versions (iOS App Store and Android side load) exist, the Windows version is considered the most dangerous of all.

The takeaway is simple: If you see a tool promising privacy and a way around web blocks, stick to reputable sources like Brave, Tor, or DuckDuckGo. Avoid the Universe Browser entirely.

It is a further blow to the government’s credibility after the collapse of a China spying case after the failure by senior civil servants to formally declare Beijing a “national security threat”.

Dominic Cummings, who served as a senior adviser to Boris Johnson, also revealed last week that China obtained “vast amounts” of classified government information over a period of many years.

Experts believe that much of the data has not yet been decrypted by China, but has rather been gathered for processing later in what experts call a “harvest now/decrypt later” attack. They believe the hackers are relying on quantum computers, which are advancing so rapidly they may become powerful enough to crack even the most secure forms of encryption within months.

GCHQ claims Beijing is behind the recently discovered “Salt Typhoon” cyberattacks, which since 2021 have targeted government institutions, telecoms systems and critical infrastructure in 80 countries, including Britain and the US.

“It is credible that almost all UK citizens will have had data compromised in these attacks,” said Daniel Shiu, the former head of cryptographic design — the science of how to secure valuable digital information at GCHQ.

Security officials believe the vast haul of data gathered could allow Beijing to target individuals or employees, such as academics, scientists and civil servants, for espionage purposes in areas which would give the country a competitive advantage, including in tech companies, the defence industry and the energy sector.

Such individuals might be hacked or approached via social networking sites, such as LinkedIn, by Chinese agents. Having someone’s personal data, including bank details, could also make them susceptible to blackmail.

In August, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), which is part of GCHQ, took the unusual step of naming the three Chinese companies that perpetrated the hack: Sichuan Juxinhe Network Technology, Beijing Huanyu Tianqiong Information Technology Company and Sichuan Zhixin Ruijie Network Technology Company.

It described these companies as “state-sponsored” by the “People’s Republic of China” and warned that the targets included “telecommunications, government, transportation, lodging, and military infrastructure networks”.

Scientists have said much of the stockpiled data is currently protected but increasingly vulnerable to being cracked.

Everything from personal banking passwords and encrypted messaging services such as WhatsApp to the most top-secret communications about Britain’s military and nuclear warheads, could be rendered defenceless. Harvest now/decrypt later hacks are also feared to include information related to the country’s critical national infrastructure, including energy networks and airports.

“Harvest now/decrypt later attacks are a credible threat we are taking very seriously,” said a senior official at the NCSC. For security reasons, the official’s name is not being disclosed.

The Salt Typhoon attack has already allowed China to monitor communications between politicians and the military and track them worldwide, according to the NCSC. The FBI said the telephone conversations of Donald Trump and JD Vance were also compromised.

“Salt Typhoon is a very large-scale threat, backed by nation-state level resources,” said Shiu, who now works as head of cryptography at the cybersecurity firm Arqit.

He warned that the security threat of the recent hacks has been complicated further by the rapidly advancing field of quantum computing, in which subatomic particles are used to perform previously unimaginably complex calculations.

Last week Cummings said that he and the then prime minister Johnson were informed about a significant security breach in 2020 but that there had been a subsequent cover-up. The hack included “material from intelligence services. Material from the National Security Secretariat in the Cabinet Office. Things the government has to keep secret,” Cummings said.

Security chiefs believe China presents the biggest long-term strategic challenge to Britain compared with other hostile states, such as Russia and Iran. In his annual threat update on Thursday, Sir Ken McCallum, director-general of MI5, warned: “The UK-China relationship is by its nature complex, but MI5’s role is not we detect and deal, robustly, with activity threatening UK national security.”

McCallum warned that Chinese state actors presented a threat “every day” and across a multitude of areas.

“We’ve intervened operationally again in just the last week and will keep doing so,” he said. He singled out China’s “wide-ranging Salt Typhoon intrusions” as “a form of cyberespionage”.

“It is absolutely the case that the UK is subject to highly aggressive and increasingly sophisticated cyberactivity from a range of adversaries, including, very specifically, Chinese hackers,” he added.

Dr Petar Radanliev, a mathematician who specialises in post-quantum encryption at Oxford University, said: “The risk of quantum computers to society is so severe that it cannot be ignored, so we have developedmethods of encryption that are resistant to quantum computers and this process has been ongoing for a decade.”

There believed to be as many as 200 quantum computers in the world, 12 of which are in the UK. China keeps its quantum computing assets secret, but its publicly announced spending on quantum technologies to date is about £11 billion, four times higher than the United States and 15 times higher than Britain.

• Russia has been behind a “stream of surveillance plots,” and recent convictions include six spies and perpetrators of a Wagner-ordered arson attack in London.

• Iran is attempting to silence global critics, with MI5 tracking over 20 potentially lethal, Iran-backed plots and citing exposed antisemitic and assassination attempts abroad.

• China is engaged in cyber espionage, luring academics, and harassing UK-based dissidents. They are also suspected of harvesting data from data centres they own containing information on British citizens.

The domestic terrorism risk remains “huge,” with al Qaeda and Islamic State becoming more ambitious. Since 2020, MI5 and the police have disrupted 19 late-stage attack plots with an understood under the SOI (Subjects Of Interest) umbrella there are 4,000 high risk individuals under 24 hour surveillance out of a pool of 40,000 being monitored in some way. As more people are entering the country both legally and illegally this figure will only increase.

Starmer’s Labour government has made improved relations with Beijing a key priority as it seeks foreign investment to upgrade infrastructure and grow the economy. But this is folly as former senior security experts and trade advisers have warned this is a dangerous path to tread. “We fully recognise that China poses a series of threats to UK national security, yet we must also be alive to the fact that China does present us with opportunities,” the security minister Dan Jarvis told parliament this week. Risking the security of the UK for investment is utter insanity.

Following on from our article on the dangers of allowing the super Chinese embassy close to critical communication infrastructure in London, this report should be a wakeup call to the government. We fear this is not the case as we still haven’t been given full disclose on the agreements made during the meetings between government representatives and China just after the 2024 election, and the increasing scrutiny of the collapsed spying case due to the reluctance of the government to state that China is a threat to UK national security.

The planned relocation and expansion of the Chinese Embassy in London, often dubbed the ‘super-embassy’ has generated significant political, security, and local controversy. The proposal is for a new diplomatic compound at Royal Mint Court in the Tower Hamlets borough, near the Tower of London and London’s financial districts.

The proposed complex is vast, covering approximately 20,000 square meters across 5.5 acres. This size would reportedly make it the largest national diplomatic headquarters in Europe — roughly ten times the size of China’s current embassy.

This site is strategically located between London’s major financial hubs, the City of London and Canary Wharf. Plans include a new Embassy House, a Cultural Exchange building, offices, and accommodations for a large number of staff (including 225 residences).

The complex’s large size could provide ample cover for intelligence personnel and facilities, which would be considered sovereign Chinese diplomatic territory and beyond routine British oversight.

The UK government has faced pressure from both its own lawmakers and the US to reject the plans, with the US even warning that the project could jeopardise intelligence sharing. China maintains that the claims of security risks are groundless and that the embassy will promote mutual understanding and cultural exchange.

This summary has been deemed as accurate by AI

Being in the tech industry, we have our own connections in the UK security agencies and this week we managed to have an off the record conversation about our concerns. We agreed this is an insane decision and a huge risk to the UK.

Lets be honest, this ‘super embassy’ is in reality an extension of the CCP State. They are not friendly to the UK, currently supporting and arming Russia in its direct war in Ukraine and its proxy war with Europe. This embassy location is in the centre of London and they will be monitoring and hacking into the whole of Europe.

As mentioned within commons debates, the Governments own cyber-security experts, Innovate UK, have warned about the threat to the City of London from the embassy. The Wapping telephone and internet exchange is surrounded on three sides by the new embassy, and there are fibre cables carrying highly sensitive information running beneath the site. The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology said yesterday that these matters could be dealt with in the planning process, but the inquiry has ended, so they cannot.

China has a history of cutting cables and infrastructure hacks, including embedding malware capable of disabling infrastructure. Chinese state media have reported that the UK has given assurances to the Chinese that the UK would allow the development, no matter what. This is utter madness.

Furthermore, Sir Richard Dearlove former head of MI6 has publicly expressed his concerns warning that the presence of critical cabling networks nearby the site presented a ‘real problem..especially if they go under the site where the Chinese with impunity can link into them, listen to everything or collect anything and everything going down those communication chains’.

Speaking exclusively with the i Newspaper, he went further to express his concerns that the UK’s most vital national infrastructure, such as hospitals, energy grids, and transport networks, could come under the control of the Chinese Communist Party.

His decision to speak out comes after Sir Richard launched an attack on Energy Secretary Ed Miliband’s net zero ideological which he said are a threat to national security because of their reliance on Chinese technology.

“The problem is you’ve got the ideological Ed Miliband pursuing zero carbon without a thought for the impact on national security. It’s so crazy... the whole policy is completely mad. Communist-led state that has, in plain sight, a very clear strategy... They are committed to a policy of global domination by 2049.

The problem is you’ve got the ideological Ed Miliband pursuing zero carbon without a thought for the impact on national security. It’s so crazy... the whole policy is completely mad

Sir Richard Dearlove former head of MI6

You may also recall the staggering discovery of secret kill switches, identified as cellular radios, embedded within power inverters manufactured by Chinese companies and sold to US power generators. This triggered urgent warnings over US national energy security and prompting calls to suspend the deployment of renewable energy generation in the UK from all sides, without any seemingly decisive action by the UK government.

The CCP cannot be trusted. This ‘super embassy’ should not go ahead and if it does, it can only be seen as this government being in coercion with China and being a danger to both UK and European citizens and their security.

proves the current labour governement pre

cables from canary wharf to central london financial district run close and some underneath the area

Ian Duncan Smiths comment;

Beijing has a recent history of cutting cables and confirmed infrastructure hacks, including embedding malware capable of disabling all that infrastructure. Surprisingly, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology said on television yesterday that this issue is “in the planning process” and could be managed. Will the Minister correct the record? The planning inquiry has concluded, and no changes at all can be made to the Chinese planning application.

I remind the Minister that the application contains nothing about cabling. Indeed, the Chinese have rejected only two requests by the inquiry—requests to which he referred; they were made by the Government, in the letter from the Foreign and Home Secretaries. That is despite Ministers regularly saying that the letter should “give those concerned comfort.” Rerouting the cables would, we know, cost millions, if the Government are even thinking about that, so I ask the Minister: why did the Government strongly deny, rather than tell this House about, the presence of the cables until the White House actually confirmed it?

Indeed, The Guardian newspaper reported in 2023 that the Chinese would not apply again unless they were given governmental assurances. Can the Minister confirm, or even deny, any of this? Speaking as one of those in the Chamber who have been sanctioned by China, I see this as Project Kowtow. There has been one denial after another, and one betrayal after another. No wonder our allies believe that this Chinese mega-embassy is becoming a walk of shame for the Government.

As the Government know, their own cyber-security experts, Innovate UK, have warned about the threat to the City of London from the embassy. The Wapping telephone and internet exchange is surrounded on three sides by the new embassy, and there are fibre cables carrying highly sensitive information running beneath the site. The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology said yesterday that these matters could be dealt with in the planning process, but the inquiry has ended, so they cannot. If the Government are considering moving the cables, how many millions of pounds of public money will that cost? I recently sent yet another cross-party letter to the Prime Minister, signed by 59 parliamentarians, urging him to pause and reconsider. Since then, the US and Dutch Governments have both sounded the alarm.