The tracking device was hidden inside a sealed component imported from China and installed by the vehicle manufacturer. Security officials are believed to have discovered it during inspections of government vehicles used by ministers and diplomats.
Fresh allegations about Chinese espionage have surfaced in the United Kingdom after lawmakers were told that a tracking device capable of transmitting data to China was discovered in the official car used by the British prime minister.
The claim emerged during a parliamentary committee hearing. According to testimony presented before MPs, the device was discovered in 2022 during a security sweep of a government vehicle used by the prime minister. The revelation has raised questions about whether senior British leaders were unknowingly exposed to surveillance.
The bombshell allegation was made by Charles Parton, a senior associate fellow at the Council on Geostrategy and a former British diplomat with decades of experience in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Appearing before the Commons Business and Trade Committee, Parton told MPs that the prime minister’s vehicle had been transmitting data to China through a cellular module.
“The prime minister’s car in 2022 was emanating data to China through the cellular module,” he said.
Cellular modules are electronic components that allow devices to communicate over mobile networks. They are widely used in modern vehicles and can transmit data remotely.
Parton said the information had come from a highly placed government source.
“A very senior member of the government who certainly knows whose car it was told me,” he added.
It remains unclear which prime minister’s vehicle was involved. Britain had three Conservative prime ministers during that period — Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.
TRACKING DEVICE CLAIM FUELS SECURITY DEBATE
According to local media, the device was hidden inside a sealed component imported from China and installed by the vehicle manufacturer. Security officials are believed to have discovered 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 aim to get a monopoly in the manufacture of cellular modules, and they’re doing pretty well at that already,” he told the committee.
He added that such technology is now found in everything from cars and aircraft to smart doorbells.
“If the Chinese wish to shut off all your vehicles, because they’ve all got cellular modules, it wouldn’t be difficult,” Parton said.
OFFICIALS PUSH BACK ON CLAIMS
British authorities have so far declined to publicly comment on the specific allegation. A government source told Daily Mail that officials did not recognise the claim regarding the prime minister’s vehicle.
“As a matter of longstanding policy we would never comment on security matters,” a government spokesperson said.
The Metropolitan Police, which is responsible for the prime minister’s protection and operates official government vehicles, also refused to discuss the matter.
“We do not comment on matters of protective security,” a Scotland Yard spokesperson told Daily Mail.
China had rejected similar allegations.
After reports about the discovery of the device first surfaced, Beijing dismissed the allegations as “groundless and sheer rumour”.
Chinese officials said they were “firmly opposed to political manipulation on normal economic and trade co-operation or any smear on Chinese enterprises.”
