China is accused of trying to spy on a civil servant at the British embassy in Beijing by hiding a listening device in a teapot
- The bug was allegedly only found in the teapot when it smashed on the floor
China has been accused of trying to spy on a civil servant by hiding a listening device in a teapot.
The pot was given as a gift to a worker at the British embassy in Beijing and was only found to have a bug in it when the teapot smashed.
An insider told The Sun: ‘They were given a tea set as a parting gift by their hosts.
‘They thought this was very lovely and took the tea set home with them to Britain.
‘Whenever they were having a Chinese meal they would get this tea set out and use it. One day, they were doing the washing up and accidentally knocked the teapot over and it smashed on the floor.’
China has been accused of trying to spy on a civil servant by hiding a listening device in a teapot (File image)
The bug is not believed to have collected any private information. Pictured: Chinese President Xi Jinping
The source explained that when they bent over to pick up the broken pieces of the pot they discovered a recording device was hidden inside.
The bug is not believed to have collected any private information, The Times reported.
The news of this spy device comes just a week after a Chinese spy was revealed to be working in Westminster.
The man, in his 20s, was arrested under the Official Secrets Act after he allegedly passed top secret documents to China.
The arrest was disclosed last week but he was detained in March this year.
Now fresh fears have been raised over Parliament’s security following claims of the alleged ‘Chinese spy’ who was able to access the Palace of Westminster for months without being vetted.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently read the riot act to his Chinese counterpart over ‘unacceptable’ interference by Beijing in British democracy.