Two weeks ago, the Whitehall mandarins, ministerial aides and officials who
will be in Beijing when the Olympic Games open on Friday were summoned for
what they thought would be a series of pro-forma chats with MI5. What they
heard was hair-raising.
“It was all very James Bond,” according to one of the 100 or more who were
called in by the security service. “We were told to trust nobody. We were
warned that there is going to be a huge spy presence in Beijing, and that we
should expect to be followed wherever we go.”
The alert came after The Sunday Times reported that a top aide accompanying
Gordon Brown to China early this year had been caught in a suspected
“honeytrap” by a woman who vanished from his hotel room with his BlackBerry.
The aides and officials accompanying Brown and four ministers to the Olympics
were told they must take no laptops and that all BlackBerries or mobile
phones must be “clean” – containing no contact numbers or other information.
It is a reminder that, although China has transformed itself into a more
self-confident, outgoing and even outspoken society than it was when awarded
the games seven years ago, it is still ruled by authoritarians who are above
the law.
The official slogan is One World, One Dream. But these are also the Spying
Games.
China has justified heavy security measures, entailing the deployment of
110,000 security personnel in Beijing and restrictions on visas, by the need
to protect the Olympics against unspecified threats of terrorism.
Surface to air missiles have been placed around the Olympic “bird’s nest”
stadium, and from 2pm on Friday – six hours before the opening ceremony is
due to start – airports around Beijing will be in lock-down. The army has
been instructed to shoot down anything that moves in the five designated air
zones above the city. There is much more than an antiterrorist exercise
going on, however. A western intelligence official said the Chinese security
services saw the Olympics as “a goldmine for intelligence gathering,
blackmail and commercial secrets”.
The US state department issued an official warning this year to travellers
attending the games that there was “no reasonable expectation of privacy in
public or private locations” in China.
It’s not just that the men on the streets in Good Luck Beijing T-shirts and
lookalike baseball caps are likely to be vigilantes looking for
troublemakers. The man coming into your hotel room to change your free
slippers may also be on the security payroll.
“The [British] security services seem particularly worried about the Chinese
hotel staff going into our bedrooms,” said a senior aide who will be
accompanying ministers.
“We were told they will find an excuse to go into our room five or more times
a day. They’ll say they’ve come to change the free slippers – but actually
they’ll be on the lookout for any phones or documents we might have left
lying around.” Last December Jonathan Evans, director-general of MI5, warned
that China was carrying out state-sponsored espionage against vital parts of
Britain’s economy, including the computer systems of big banks and financial
services firms.
A main fear now is that business visitors to China will be permanently subject
to “a cold war level” of industrial espionage from systems put in place for
the games.
Two industry sources have confirmed that internet surveillance software to spy
on guests at the games has been installed at some international hotel chains
after heavy pressure from state security.
It means that business leaders, politicians and government officials using the
internet in some of Beijing’s most prestigious hotels can expect the Chinese
authorities to monitor e-mails, website visits and private passwords.
The sources confirmed allegations by an American senator, Sam Brownback, who
has disclosed the existence of a threatening order from the Public Security
Bureau (PSB) to hotel managers ordering them to comply with its operatives.
“Exactly right,” said one of the sources, who said he was familiar with the
instructions due to his management position, “it is authentic”.
The PSB document said that “in order to ensure the smooth opening of the
Olympics in Beijing . . . it is required that your company install and run
the security management system”.
Penalties for noncompliance included fines and the threat the hotel chain
could lose its licence in China.
Not only Beijing hotels are affected. Guests at the Shangri-La hotel in
Shenzhen, a business hub in south China, were informed in a letter from the
management on July 24 that internet access would be shut for several hours
for a maintenance “upgrade”.
The Asian-owned chain also operates a hotel at the Kerry Centre in Beijing
which is used by the British consulate and multinational companies located
in the complex. A spokesman for Shangri-La Hotels did not return calls
asking for comment.
Spying on foreigners in Beijing used to be the subject of routine jokes about
walls with ears in establishments such as the venerable Jianguo hotel, near
the British and American embassies. Western diplomats had assumed until
recently that the listening apparatus and telephone tapping, used routinely
in the era of Mao Tse-tung, had fallen into disuse.
It is the internet, with high-speed broadband connections in most Chinese
hotels, that has given a new lease of life to the eavesdroppers.
The internet was at the centre of an embarrassing public row last week between
the international media and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after
it emerged that the Chinese were continuing to block politically sensitive
websites at the press centre.
The IOC said all restrictions would be lifted for reporters but technicians
said it was not clear how websites such as the Free Tibet Campaign could be
selectively unblocked without millions of Chinese users also gaining access.
China’s president, Hu Jin-tao, laid down an uncompromising line in a meeting
with selected journalists on Friday, saying the media “should comply with
the laws of China”.
Hu made a plea that the Olympics should not be “politicised”; but campaigners
for Tibet responded that it was China that had politicised the games by
turning them into a propaganda exercise.
The IOC had hoped that awarding the games to China would allow the nation of
1.3 billion people to edge towards political liberalisation to match the
gains achieved by double-digit economic growth.
Instead the games have proved to be a hiccup in the expansion of Chinese
personal freedom by unleashing intolerant authoritarian tendencies.
Fearful of humiliation in the eyes of the world if all does not go to plan,
the government has not only clamped down on dissidents but has also gone to
great lengths to ensure that everyone behaves properly.
As well as a ban on spitting, scratching your head, wearing sandals without
socks and hanging laundry in the windows, blackboards instructing people to
smile have been propped up in communal living areas and a booklet has been
doing the rounds informing locals how to communicate with tourists.
Do not ask foreigners their age or about their love life or if they are
married. Do not ask foreigners if they are in good health. Do not ask where
their home is or what their address is or anything about personal
experiences. Do not mention religion or politics or ask how much money they
earn. (Money, health and personal life are usually seen as acceptable
subjects among friends and strangers in China.)
Student volunteers will even be deployed among the crowd to ensure that people
watching the games cheer nicely and attend unpopular sports.
“Our team of crowd monitors has two main jobs,” said Jin Tian, a student
volunteer from the international relations department at Peking University.
“One group is responsible for the audience’s feelings, like leading them to
cheer politely or applaud appropriately during matches. The other group is
in charge of organising primary or middle school students to be the audience
for the matches that are less popular.”
Paranoid about seeming backwards, dirty or unsafe, the government has
introduced measures aimed at forcing the capital’s poorest inhabitants– many
of them migrants from rural areas – to be kept hidden during the games.
The city’s bus stations have been crammed with migrant workers and their
families queuing for coaches back to the countryside.
“They closed our factory and told us to go on holiday,” said Zhu Lai Cheng, a
migrant waiting for a coach to his home-town in Anhui province, a 36-hour
journey. “We were given £12 and told to come back in two months.”
The irony is that, despite all the security precautions, a video of last
week’s supposedly top-secret rehearsal for the opening ceremony was easily
smuggled out and shown on South Korean television.
It showed a series of stunning performances that will astonish worldwide
audiences when the real thing is seen on Friday night.
This suggests two lessons. First that China really is going to have a great
deal to be proud of by the time the games are over. And, secondly, that in a
vigorous nation of 1.3 billion, Big Brother is not all he is cracked up to
be.
FOR THE RECORD
— At £22 billion, the Beijing Games will be the most expensive (three times
more than Athens)
— 40m flower pots have been ordered
— The ministry of culture and ideological progress has distributed
50,000 packets of tissues. Anyone spitting will be fined £3.50
— To improve air quality, officials created a forest next to the venues
— 90,000 taxi drivers have had “Olympic English” training
— The opening ceremony will cost £151m and feature more than 10,000
performers
— 10,000 athletes, 70,000 Chinese volunteers, 20,000 journalists and
more than 80 heads of state will attend
— 7m tickets have been sold
Colin, Cambridge
Is it a misdeed when one country deals with another? If Govt does not deal with Govt then who should it deal with? Is dealings with an opposition party of a country not a misdeed? Pray tell me what is foregin affairs? What is respect? What is sovereignty? Or u know only democracy!
Lim, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
Colin, Cambridge
At least u do agree the West does bad things and it is these bad things we are opposed to.
Be assured we people of the world appreciate the good things the West did. In fact we have always look towards the West as a role model. It is why we study English, wear Western attire etc.
Lim, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
Lim Malaysia.
Rising peacefully!! It does not look like that. Too many weapons for bad third world regimes tarnishes China. Sure, the West does bad things, as you will doubtless tell me, but that does not excuse China's misdeeds.
Why do you support China? You live in democratic Malaysia.
Colin, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Colin , Cambridge,
It is not a claim. It is a fact. China is rising. The News media, TV and experts said so. I am surprised you are not aware. You in the West should not fear b'cos China's rise is peaceful and does not threaten any country. Just leave her to develop peacefully. Benefits the world.
Lim, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
It is only 2 more days to the games.
I wish all the world's athletes very success. May the best person or the best team win glory or fame for self and country at the Beijing Olympic Games.
One World One Dream.
060808
Lim, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
Lim, Malaysia.
But you do make vast claims in many of your postings. Mostly about the rise of China and how we in the west must face up to it. You cannot deny this. Everyone has noticed.
My question is. How do you know these things and what exactly are we supposed to be facing up to?
Colin , Cambridge, United Kingdom
Lim in Malaysia.
The details about the Blackberry being stolen, Honey Girls and Slipper Men all come from The Times article. I did not invent anything. All of the information is in this newspaper. Try reading it.
Colin, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Colin, Cambridge, United Kingdom
What vast claims have I made? U were the one saying that the Blackberry was stolen & visitors were to trust no one. Surely one knows to keep ones valuables safely while staying in hotels which do have notices to that effect in all bedrooms.
Surely UK hotels too.
Lim, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
Aesir, london, Transmanche Region
YUAN LONG PING Crop Tech.? New clean energy tech?
Ignorance leads to arrogance, which no dout, only serves to limit one's own vision.
Dan, London,
Lim Malysia
You make vast claims. China taking over everything. Why would they want to do that and how do you know these things?
The Blackberry was stolen by the Honey Girl when the diplomat was in the hotel bathroom. Visitors to Beijing have been told to trust no one not even the Slipper Men
Colin, Cambridge, United Kingdom
CA, Los, Naija
Pray tell why was the West so clumsy, so careless, so so that its secrets were so easily stolen?
050808
Lim, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
"China will be bust within 10 years! " says Chris, London,
Read the signs. China will be among the top 3 economic power within 10 years and on track to overtake the USA - my prediction.
050808
Lim, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
Tricky things have been going on in East London as well. The Clays Lane travellers were evicted last year. Their productive vegetable plots have been concreted over to make an access route for Olympic athletes. The development sharks have now moved into the Olympic legacy pool to make their kills.
James, Beckton, East London
I was just discussing this with an American colleague - but when reporting financial data in the UK do we always now adopt the American definition of one billion - 1,000 million? If not 22 Million, Million sounds steep? Not that I would argue if either sum were gifted to me! Clarification?
Gordon Husbands, London,
Johm London.
The Seoul Games was worse. Government thugs rounded up all of the nere do wells and prostitutes and hid them in a detention camp. Those who escaped burrowed holes under the motorway to hide in. The Olympics always brings dire situations to the poor wherever it goes.
Colin , Carmarthen, United Kingdom
In China the fine is '£3.50 for spitting'.
In England the fine is £120.00 for leaving the dustbins 4 inches open.
derek, Cardiff, uk
Isabel , Michael & Flora, since Times sent you 3 top guns to "ground zero", M15 should at least tell you that since the emergence of basic technologies such as photographing & software copying, no decent Intel agency in the world steal hardware anymore. I look forward to updates in your SpyHard II.
Dr. Wang, Mayfair, London, England
It sounds like the Times is releasing plot secrets of the third James Bond movie. Although, from the way it's looking, it's going to be even more absurd then the one where Bond goes off to space..
Timothy, San Francisco , USA
Let the games begin.
let the athletes be successful, have fun, and compete to the best of their abilities.
let those who want to watch watch.
let those who don't don't.
and let them do it in peace. End of story.
timothy, San Francisco , united states
VPN encryption will stop the amateur and semi-pro hackers. VPN encryption will not stop Governments; they have the time and can afford the powerful machines needed to break the encryption.
MF, California, USA
The truth is China has plans for the Pacific region and will spy on anything. Visions and prophecies of an asian invader to Australia are many amongst OZ christians. If you click on kings of the east you can see how the Book of Revelation views the future. Australia isnt prepared for whats coming.
G.Gibson, Sydney, Australia
Please stop being hysterical about China. Bikes and mobiles are regularly stolen here. She probably fancied his phone more than him. I teach young adults. One World, One Dream to them means an earth without war or suspicion. You truly do not understand China or her people. So, please join the Dream!
Bill, Suzhou, China
Many Corporate & Political leaders are naive enough to use Wireless connections to their laptops in Hotels while they travel.
A friend of mine in the Hotel industry showed me how his IT staff could connect to any guest's PC on their wireless network. In a country where spying is de rigeur.
Richard, Bucharest,
Wouldn't it be nice to read an original piece of reporting about the Olympics? Journalists keep recycling old news and giving biased and shallow accounts without understanding China or its people. Chinese will be glad to have censorship back if this is all they can read on the 'open' press.
Roy, Tokyo, Japan
If you want to know where China plans to move to, google up my website at Invader to Australia: visions and prophecies.
Then stay at home in the UK.
G.Gibson, Sydney, Australia
Kuma, chengdu
tell me what China has invented in the last 1000 years? china is only good for duplicating western work, without the creativity of the west and your ability to imitate and make it for us you wouldnt have an economy of any distinction. think on that.
Aesir, london, Transmanche Region
Such a lovely country shipping your poorest inhabitants off to the country to 'hide' them. Too late, we already know you're doing it, so why bother?
John, London, UK
This stealing of Blackberry's and Laptops from hotel rooms by Honey Girls and Slipper Men sounds like war has already been declared or else the cold-war never went away. How can anyone do business in China with any level of trust if there are all sorts of underhand tricks going on wherever you turn.
Colin, Cambridge, United Kingdom
I fear there will be protests, and the government will do what they can to control/minimize it, but they will be limited with the work watching. But there will be serious blow-back for the Chinese people, after the Olympics and the world takes it eye off Beijing.
Lee, Seoul, Republic of Korea
"media firms usually have VPN back to their office so the staff can surf freely from anywhere " - sylvan, Hong Kong , China
Yes and you type in your username and password first then connect? how do you plan on sending that without being intercepted?
peter, newcast;e,
Leave open copies of Gordon Browns book 'Courage-what is it?' lying around in the bedrooms. Have obtuse passages marked in hieroglyphics. That should slow down their security service AhSo5. Especially mark the section 'Taxes upon taxes' as Top Secret. China will be bust within 10 years!
Chris, London,
This article is negative and it shows that its the nature of the media to criticise any good undertaking.To the proud Chinese reading these sorts of articles,be reminded that many from the West want to see the best from these games and are looking forward to what would be the largest show ever seen.
Joe, Sydney, Australia
Pretty sad to hear that the country that could break the German codes during WW2 can't provide secure laptops to its staff in 2008. Serious media firms usually have VPN back to their office so the staff can surf freely from anywhere. All this to say that this article is making a storm in a teacup.
sylvan, Hong Kong , China
Rick from Beijing is absolutely right. China-bashing should become a new Olympic discipline. BBC, The Times, The Guardian, NYT and The Economist would all be competing for the medals.
Anna Humphreys, Beijing, China
people .... please!!!!! remember this is a country who's authoritarian dictates have changed little since records began. the 'west' has every right to 'advise' accordingly. nothing worth stealing? becasue its being stolen!!!
CA, Los, Naija
I am an American and I have been in Beijing since 7/30/08. I have not experienced any so-called "spying" or restriction on my internet usage or my speech. I think it's very easy and more importantly, popular, to hate on China. This article is unnecessarily negative, and shouldn't be taken seriously.
Tiffany, Fremont, CA, Usa
Lets be looking forward together for closing ceremony when all the boring China bashers can have time for at least a short break, though you won't get the gold for new sport: China bashing. (yawn)
rick, beijing,
Really. These one-sided reports from your reporters in Beijing are becoming stale. Surely MI5 does the same in London what with you being the most watched nation on earth and all? Get off your high horses, won't you?
Jay Heymans, Shanghai,
You try to present it that the Chinese are paranoid, but it makes it sound like the Brits are! Stealing industrial secrets? While the west is on the verge of recession, the Chinese economy is on track to once again grow 10%. Trust me, they don't need to "steal" your industrial secrets!
Kuma, Chengdu, China
It's just a game. Why you get it so serious? Why in your eyes China is so evil? You come to beijing to report Olympics, don't you? Just go street to witness how Chinese people welcomes the Olympics and see how friendly they are. Why no people report this? I am so tired of the "source comfirmed" news
Tao, Hangzhou, China
Laugh, about the Blackberry incident, the first version from BBC is 'in a nightclub', now here is 'in a hotel room', and finally, British goverment's version is the official's 'personal mistake' with nothing related to China. Now I know why China used to ban British media-don't sell false product!
Ran, York, UK
Can't the Western media produce a balanced news item on China? The Western China-is-scary propaganda machines has little to envy from its Chinese counterpart.
Mike McPhelan, Beijing, China