Chinese State Hackers Targeted Top Downing Street Aides Under Three Prime Ministers
Senior aides to former Prime Ministers Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and current PM Rishi Sunak were reportedly targeted in a sophisticated Chinese cyber-espionage campaign that compromised personal communications between 2021 and 2024. According to exclusive reports in the Daily Telegraph, the operation - codenamed Salt Typhoon - successfully infiltrated the phones of several influential figures within Downing Street during this period.
Operation Salt Typhoon: A Persistent Global Threat
Security sources have revealed that the Salt Typhoon hacking group, believed to be linked to the Chinese state, conducted this global-scale operation which is thought to still be continuing. This raises serious questions about whether current government ministers and officials might have been compromised. The campaign represents one of three major publicly known Chinese state-linked hacking groups, alongside Flax Typhoon and Volt Typhoon.
In a concerning development from 2024, it was reported that the same Salt Typhoon group had previously infiltrated communications linked to prominent US political figures including Donald Trump, JD Vance and Kamala Harris ahead of the American presidential election. This pattern suggests a consistent strategy of targeting high-level political communications across Western democracies.
Awkward Timing for UK-China Diplomatic Relations
The revelation comes at a particularly sensitive diplomatic moment, as Sir Keir Starmer prepares to embark on the first official visit to China by a British Prime Minister since 2018. The Labour leader is scheduled to meet Chinese officials in Beijing, visit Shanghai, and make a stop in Japan during his Asian tour.
In an interview with Bloomberg ahead of his trip, Starmer addressed the delicate balance in UK-China relations, stating: '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.'
Contradictory Security Assessments Emerge
While the Telegraph's sources indicate successful breaches of Downing Street communications, separate security sources speaking to the Times have downplayed claims that China's efforts achieved significant success within the UK. This conflicting information highlights the complexity of assessing cyber-espionage operations and their actual impact.
Super-Embassy Controversy Compounds Security Concerns
These hacking revelations coincide with ongoing controversy surrounding China's planned 'super-embassy' at the former Royal Mint site in London. The government granted planning permission for the development last week, despite concerns about its proximity to vital telecommunications cables that handle data for millions of British citizens.
Following the decision, MI5 issued a sobering assessment, warning that it was 'not realistic to expect to be able wholly to eliminate each and every potential risk' from such developments. Government and security service figures have defended the decision, stating that the plans underwent comprehensive examination and that necessary security mitigations have been implemented.
Legal Challenges Mount Against Embassy Plans
Opponents of the super-embassy project have raised nearly £200,000 to fight the development in court, with more than three-quarters of that amount collected in just the past week. The Royal Mint Court Resident's Association, representing current residents of the site, has instructed planning law specialist Lord Banner KC to represent them in legal proceedings.
The combination of these hacking revelations with the embassy controversy creates a complex security landscape for UK-China relations, raising fundamental questions about how Britain balances economic opportunities with national security imperatives in its dealings with the world's second largest economy.
