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\n\t\tSt James\u2019s Park: do the trees have ears? (Picture: Getty)<\/p>\n
\t\t
\n\t\tSt James\u2019s Park: do the trees have ears? (Picture: Getty)<\/p>\n
Chinese spies could be listening in while you sit down for a sandwich at lunch across central London<\/a> parks, security insiders claim. <\/p>\n Park benches and pubs of Westminster have apparently been identified as targets by Beijing.<\/p>\n Politicians and parliamentary researchers have been warned by security sources that seemingly harmless places to sit could be bugged, so they should be careful of what they chat about.<\/p>\n Security sources told the Mail on Sunday<\/a> that there are known \u2018hotspots\u2019 in the capital where information is exchanged.<\/p>\n They say this espionage goes beyond online eavesdropping, or honey-trappers suggesting a drink, and even includes the foliage of St James\u2019s Park.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018We have been told the Chinese literally have the park bugged, with devices in the bushes and under park benches,\u2019 one source alleged.<\/p>\n They claimed that this was seen as worthwhile because civil servants and researchers often meet in the park over their lunch break.<\/p>\n \t\t Junior staff in the chambers of power are supposedly seen as soft targets by regimes including Russia and Iran, as well as China.\u00a0<\/p>\n The idea of hidden mics on park benches sounds ridiculous, given that \u2013 if they do exist \u2013\u00a0 whoever has to listen to them is more likely to overhear a squabble between a pigeon and a squirrel than anything relevant to national security. <\/p>\n But there are some pubs and hotels that were singled out as particularly high risk by sources.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Red Lion pub on Parliament Street, which has pictures of politicians on the walls and is popular with MPs, is not a safe place to disclose classified information because of \u2018Chinese agents,\u2019 a source claimed. <\/p>\n Five-star hotels the Corinthia near Trafalgar Square and the new Raffles on Whitehall were also said to be hotspots for espionage.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tLatest London news\t\t\t<\/p>\n To get the latest news from the capital visit Metro’s<\/strong> London news hub<\/a>.<\/p>\n The claims come amid renewed questions over relationships with China, with the country embroiled in a trade war with the US over tariffs. <\/p>\n Last week, concerns were raised <\/a>about plans for a new Chinese\u00a0\u2018super-embassy\u2019<\/a>\u00a0at the former Royal Mint building in Tower Hamlets.<\/p>\n Documents submitted as part of the planning application revealed \u2018two suites of anonymous unlabelled basement rooms and a tunnel\u2019.<\/p>\n Their actual purpose has been redacted for \u2018security reasons\u2019, and security expert Will Geddes\u00a0told Metro<\/strong>\u00a0that the unnamed rooms \u2018could be used for anything\u2019, such as \u2018detentions, planning, and even weaponry\u2019. <\/p>\n Last weekend, MPs approved\u00a0government<\/a>\u00a0plans to take control of British Steel\u2019s blast furnaces in Scunthorpe after negotiations with their Chinese owners, Jingye, appeared to break down.<\/p>\n The company had stopped buying enough raw materials to keep the blast furnaces going, with business secretary Jonathan Reynolds accusing them of failing to negotiate \u2018in good faith\u2019. <\/p>\n Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n For more stories like this, <\/strong>check our news page<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow![\"2YXYFXP](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SEI_248116452-104f.jpg\")
\n\t\tBest not to discuss top secret business at the Red Lion pub in Westminster (Picture: Alamy)<\/p>\n
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