Keir Starmer touches down for trade mission in Beijing on 'burner plane' over spying fears
Sir Keir’s team issued with burner phones, temporary SIM cards and throwaway laptops on diplomatic visit - the first by a British Prime Minister in eight years
Sir Keir Starmer has arrived in China on the first visit by a British Prime Minister in eight years on a ‘burner plane’ over heightened fears about state interference.
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A delegation of almost 60 representatives of British businesses and cultural institutions is accompanying the Prime Minister as he continues his efforts to build bridges with Beijing.
But concerns over the risk China poses to national security and Xi Jinping's record on human rights mean Sir Keir's visit is politically sensitive.
The delegation flew in on a so-called ‘burner plane’ due to security concerns - referring to a plane hired for the occasion, rather than the official government jet.
MI5 has warned that Beijing is embarking on industrial scale cyber-espionage against the UK.
Former security minister Tom Tugendhat explained this morning how seriously the PM’s delegation are taking concerns over espionage.
Starmer’s circus aren’t just taking burner phones to China to beat spying, they’re taking a burner plane!
— Tom Tugendhat (@TomTugendhat) January 27, 2026
The government jet is staying home because it would need to be guarded round the clock to stop China putting bugs on it - so they’ve hired a plane! https://t.co/YURIGunthk
“The espionage is so serious, Keir Starmer's team aren't just taking burner phones. They've taken a burner plane.
"They won't even take the British government plane there because they know it will be riddled with bugs unless they secure it so tightly,” he said.
Sir Keir’s team has also been issued with burner phones, temporary SIM cards and throwaway laptops rather than their usual computers to limit the likelihood of them being bugged.
They have also been warned that plugging devices into a power outlet could lead to them being compromised, under so-called ‘bluejacking’.
However Government sources suggested a large plane had been chartered simply due to the size of the business delegation.
Asked on the plane about whether anyone in the Downing Street operation had been targeted, Sir Keir said: "We've got robust schemes, security measures in place as you'd expect."
Read more: Starmer vows China trip will leave Brits richer as Reeves touts business boost
During Theresa May’s last visit in 2018 a Chinese minder took photographs of the interior of the plane, sparking a diplomatic incident.
No10 officials were alerted to the man’s activities including taking pictures of the upper section of the plane. However he was not challenged.
The visit comes a week after China's 'mega-embassy' in London was given the green light despite security fears.
Speaking to reporters on the flight to Beijing, the Prime Minister said: "The evidence there are opportunities is the fact that we've got so many CEOs with us on this flight, that we've got 60 coming out to explore those opportunities."
Sir Keir added that this "reflects back at home in terms of the benefit that it brings back to the United Kingdom".
The head of MI5 Sir Ken McCallum has warned that "Chinese state actors" present a national security threat to the UK "every day".
Intelligence chiefs have warned Beijing seeks to carry out online espionage, interfere in UK public life and harass and intimidate dissidents in the UK.
The security services have warned that "it is not realistic to expect to be able wholly to eliminate each and every potential risk" from a new Chinese embassy approved for the heart of London
Sir Keir said he would "never compromise national security" in taking the economic opportunities presented by China.
Sir Keir is the first British Prime Minister to visit China since Theresa May in 2018.
The intervening years saw a cooling of relations with China under the Conservatives, before Labour began re-engaging with a series of ministerial visits capped with Sir Keir's trip.
The Prime Minister said that he wanted "a comprehensive and consistent approach to China", rather than veering "from golden age to ice age", as under the previous government.
In the UK, he has come under pressure to raise a series of human rights issues with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other senior officials, including the imprisonment of British national and Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai and the treatment of the Uighur minority.
But ahead of his meetings with the Chinese leadership, Sir Keir declined to be drawn on what he would seek to raise.
He said: "In the past, on all the trips I've done, I've always raised issues that need to be raised, but I don't want to get ahead of myself on the specifics until I've had the opportunity."
Sir Keir added: "Part of the reason for engaging with China is so that issues where we disagree can be discussed, and the issues where we agree can be progressed, and so that's the approach."
The Tories have accused Sir Keir of 'kowtowing' to Beijing in an effort to kickstart the economy.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: "When it comes to China, Keir Starmer is too weak.
"Yes we need a relationship with China. But China doesn't believe in democracy, it has sanctioned our MPs, disrupts the global trade system, and has designs on Taiwan.
"We must not be in hock to China."