Daily Mail: A Chinese spy device was found inside the British Prime Minister’s car

The discovery of a sophisticated electronic spying device inside a British state vehicle, which had been in the Prime Minister’s possession for four consecutive years without raising any suspicion, has sparked a wave of questions about the security of global supply chains and revealed a security breach that would have gone undetected had it not been for a thorough intelligence scrutiny, according to sources cited by the.

According to initial investigations by British security services, the device, believed to be of Chinese origin, was precisely integrated into an electronic component imported from a sub-supplier in China.

This suspicious item remained in the vehicle for that long period until it was discovered during a comprehensive security check of government and diplomatic vehicles, as part of a growing effort to counter the risks of foreign surveillance.

Intelligence sources revealed that the device was carefully hidden inside the car’s electronic control unit before the part was shipped to the vehicle’s main factory, where it arrived as a closed and sealed unit, allowing it to be installed without the manufacturer having any knowledge of the listening devices it contained, in an incident that reflects the fragility of Western supply chains.

Security analysts believe this incident represents a widespread breach of supply chains, and not just an individual targeting of the Prime Minister’s convoy, especially given that these components are produced in huge quantities, meaning that any vehicle using them, whether belonging to an ordinary citizen or a head of state, could become a mobile tracking node transmitting data without the owner’s knowledge.

This revelation has put the British government in a major political predicament, increased pressure on the Prime Minister to take a firmer stance towards Beijing, and brought the issue back to the forefront in the halls of Parliament, where a wave of controversy has swept through the country’s digital and political content.

Amid this momentum, the Business and Trade Committee of the British House of Commons held a public hearing on Wednesday, during which it heard testimony from three experts in the field of technology and cybersecurity, as part of a broader inquiry into economic relations between London and Beijing.

The discussions focused on the risks of Chinese electric cars and the communication systems they carry that could constitute a gateway for espionage.

During the session, one of the expert witnesses made a major revelation, disclosing that in 2022 the Prime Minister’s car was sending precise geographical data and locations to external parties via its integrated cellular communication units.

He confirmed that a senior government official had personally informed him of this information, indicating that these units, intended to provide smart services and connect the car to the internet, may have been exploited to pass sensitive data to China, either directly or through intermediaries.

However, the identity of the prime minister targeted in that incident remains unclear, as 2022 coincided with the appointment of three Conservative prime ministers: Boris Johnson, then Liz Truss, and finally Rishi Sunak, making it difficult for the public to determine the target.

In contrast, the Chinese position was firm and decisive in rejecting these accusations, with Beijing describing the reports as “baseless rumors,” and accusing Western parties of politicizing the economic and trade file to tarnish the reputation of its technology companies.

A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in London stated that the information circulating was “misleading” and part of a systematic campaign to disrupt normal trade and exploit national security concerns for narrow political purposes.