China ‘hacked phones of top Downing Street staff under Johnson, Truss and Sunak’
Top aides for PMs Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak were among the targets of a sophisticated Chinese hacking campaign, it has been reported.
The personal communications of several influential figures on Downing Street were compromised between 2021 and 2024 as part of an operation dubbed Salt Tycoon, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Sources told the newspaper the global-scale operation is believed to still be continuing, raising questions over whether current government ministers and officials may have been hacked.
However, separate security sources speaking to the Times downplayed claims China’s efforts were successful in the UK.
Salt Typhoon is one of three publicly known major hacking groups believed to be linked to the Chinese state, along with Flax Typhoon and Volt Typhoon.
In 2024, it was reported that Salt Typhoon had infiltrated communications linked to Donald Trump, JD Vance and Kamala Harris ahead of the US presidential election.
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The timing of the story is awkward for No 10, as Sir Keir Starmer prepares to leave later today on the first official visit to China by a British Prime Minister since 2018.
He is expected to meet Chinese leaders in Beijing as part of the trip and visit Shanghai before stopping off in Japan.
In an interview with Bloomberg ahead of his trip, Sir Keir said he does not ‘simply choose between countries’ when it comes to exploring trade opportunities.
He said: ‘We’ve got very close relations with the US, of course we want to and we will maintain that business, alongside security and defence.
‘Equally, just sticking your head in the sand and ignoring China when it’s the second biggest economy in the world and there are business opportunities wouldn’t be sensible.’
Concerns over security threats from China have also been at the heart of controversy over the country’s new ‘super-embassy’ planned for the former Royal Mint site in London.
The government granted permission for the development to go ahead last week, despite questions over its proximity to vital cables transmitting telecommunications data for millions of Brits.
Following the decision, MI5 warned it was ‘not realistic to expect to be able wholly to eliminate each and every potential risk’.
But figures from the government and security services said the plans for the site had been comprehensively examined and the necessary mitigations had been put in place.
Opponents of the plans have raised almost £200,000 to fight the new super-embassy embassy in court, with more than three-quarters of that being raised in the past week.
The Royal Mint Court Resident’s Association – representing those who currently live on the site – said planning law specialist Lord Banner KC had been instructed to act for them.
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