Chinese President Xi Jinping gifted South Korean President Lee Jae Myung a pair of smartphones, jokingly telling him to 'check if there's a backdoor' — referring to the risk of unauthorized bypassing of security controls.

Seoul

During the APEC summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping presented South Korea's president with a pair of smartphones, prompting speculation about potential surveillance risks. The exchange, which included a lighthearted acknowledgment from Xi about the possibility of the devices being bugged, highlighted ongoing concerns about the security of Chinese technology.

The incident comes amid longstanding scrutiny of Chinese tech firms like Xiaomi and Huawei, with past allegations of data collection and censorship capabilities. While such gifts are often symbolic, the episode underscores the persistent tensions and mutual suspicions between nations regarding espionage and digital security.

China’s spy joke with South Korea that sounded like a warning

Okay, both presidents saying the quiet part out loud. My lord. South Korea questioning whether China's gift of a pair of smartphones is actually some kind of Trojan horse trap, bugged for surveillance perhaps. And China effectively saying, yeah, I guess it might be, you'd better check. So look, it's an open secret that countries spy on each other, but they don't often admit it, let alone joke about it. Nevermind that the man making the joke in this case is the authoritarian leader and quite possibly leader for life of a country known for its surveillance apparatus. One that wields sweeping control over the country's politics, its people, its media, its security, its everything. So what's the story here and what was Xi Jinping really trying to say? So the backdrop here is South Korea, the sidelines of the APEC summit this weekend. Just before a state banquet, China's leader Xi Jinping is giving a gift to South Korea's president. So this gift is just full of symbolism, right? Chinese phone, Korean touchscreen, a real economic partnership. And this is kind of a big moment too, because until now, Xi Jinping hasn't visited South Korea in 10 plus years. But that brand name, Xiaomi is the world's third biggest smartphone maker. Apple and Samsung are number one and number two, in case you were wondering. But which is funny because the Chinese phone you might be more familiar with is called Huawei. Huawei Mate X6 is the future of foldable phones. But Xiaomi is bigger and yet similar to Huawei in one very important way. For years, U.S. lawmakers have been worried about ties between Chinese technology companies and the Chinese government and whether these companies are or can be compromised. For example, if the Chinese military were to demand the personal and private data that these Chinese companies collect. We could start using that form of technology or that app for disinformation, for misinformation. They could use it to try to steer populations at home to better support its message. And it could also interfere in elections and within communities that way. In 2019, Lithuania's defense ministry released a report claiming Xiaomi's phones had a built-in ability to detect and censor certain terms China sees as provocative and that this capability could be turned on remotely at any time. It also accused Xiaomi of sending encrypted phone usage data to a server in Singapore. Revelations which, over time, would lead to a great deal of scrutiny over what exactly the company was tracking and where all that data was going. One researcher found his Xiaomi phone recording the sites he visited, what folders he opened, to which screens he swiped, and that remote data servers in Singapore and Russia had explicit links to Beijing. And when Donald Trump was president the first time, so this is in 2021, his government blacklisted Xiaomi phones, accusing the company of being a spy tool for the Chinese military. The Pentagon has added to its blacklist. That is a blacklist that alleges ties directly to the Chinese military and the People's Liberation Army. So we are learning that Xiaomi, they have been added to this U.S. blacklist from the Defense Department. Xiaomi would eventually sue the U.S. government, which ultimately forced it to change its position. But you can start to understand why South Korea's president might have questions about whether these gifts from the Chinese government are even safe to use. The reason it's so jarring when world leaders joke about spying is that when these kinds of truths come out, they're usually pretty serious. The National Security Agency in Washington, the NSA, has been listening in to phone conversations of more than, get this, 30 world leaders. Yesterday, U.S. President Obama called German Chancellor Angela Merkel after the German government said they had evidence that her personal cell phone had been bugged. Countries spy on each other all the time. If a country has the opportunity to spy on another country, it will be done and it will be done with enthusiasm. And it's not hard to find examples over the last few years of accounts, accusations of states spying on states, both when it goes according to plan and when it doesn't. National security is a constant concern, and you just have to think back to earlier this year to see why. The Pentagon officially accepting that controversial gift, the $400 million jet from Qatar that President Trump plans to use as Air Force One. They're giving us a free jet. I could say, no, no, no, don't give us. I want to pay you a billion or 400 million or whatever it is, or I could say, thank you very much. Everybody needs to know that Air Force One is not like every other Boeing. And it's going to have to be put through a lot of paces and probably every square inch analyzed before I think the president should consider it as primary means of transportation. So to be clear, when it comes to China's most recent gift to South Korea's president and first lady. Odds are South Korea's president is not about to start using these phones and be like, I don't know, WeChatting state secrets to Taiwan. So there's very likely no real issue here. I wouldn't read too much into this one way or the other in terms of Xi Jinping doing something or this being an extraordinary situation. Except what we do have is two world leaders laughing about a very diplomatically sensitive subject and a power imbalance where a man like Xi Jinping can make these sorts of jokes without worrying too much about the consequences.

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