Rishi Sunak is urged to get tough on China by ripping out hundreds of thousands of smart meters which could allegedly be used to shut down the UK’s power supplies
- Rishi Sunak has been urged to halting the installation of Chinese smart meters
- Tory ministers warned the PM against allowing devices linked to China in homes
- Sir Iain Duncan Smith raised the prospect of China shutting down energy acess
Rishi Sunak is facing calls to get tougher with China by potentially ripping out hundreds of thousands of ‘Chinese smart meters’ which could be allegedly used to shut down UK power supplies.
On the eve of the G20 summit in Indonesia, the Prime Minister was urged to remind fellow world leaders of the ‘enormous threat’ posed by Beijing’s desire to infiltrate other countries’ infrastructure.
Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said that although the gathering would rightly focus on Ukraine’s struggle, Mr Sunak should not miss the chance to warn allies of the dangers China poses.
And Sir Iain called on the PM to take immediate action at home by halting the installation in UK houses of smart meters made by a firm linked to the Chinese state.
He raised the ‘nightmare’ prospect of the Chinese state shutting down power to hundreds of thousands of households through access to the meter’s remote power switch.
Sir Iain, one of five British MPs singled out for sanctions by Beijing last year, told The Mail on Sunday that the PM should first halt the installation of the meters, made by Kaifa Technology UK, and then potentially replace the ones already installed. He said ‘all smart meters feature a switch that can be used to remotely turn off power’, which in the wrong hands ‘could be abused to inflict mass blackouts and damage the National Grid’.
His call came after the Daily Mail revealed last month that 250,000 meters supplied by Kaifa, controlled by a subsidiary of the state-owned China Electronics Corporation, were already in UK homes.
But experts predict there could be more than three million by the end of the smart meter rollout.
Last month, Michael Wu, head of Kaifa UK, rejected claims that it was seeking to gain credibility in the UK meter market by selling its meters at low prices before hiking them afterwards.
A Government source responded to Sir Iain’s warnings by acknowledging China ‘poses a systemic challenge to our security, prosperity and values’. They added that the PM was committed to updating the 2021 Integrated Review which laid out the threat China posed to the UK’s economic security.
An Energy UK spokesman said all smart meters installed in Great Britain were subject to the ‘most robust security’ and responded only to commands sent by authorised users – which did not include the manufacturer.
The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy also played down the security risk.
A spokesman said: ‘The smart metering system operating in Great Britain has been designed in close consultation with industry experts and the National Cyber Security Centre, part of GCHQ, and has comprehensive security standards and safeguards.
‘Smart meters can only respond to communications that are sent securely by authorised organisations such as energy suppliers. Users can be reassured that meter manufacturers cannot in any way communicate directly with smart meters.’
Ahead of the G20 summit, Number 10 sources said that the Prime Minister would use the opportunity of meeting fellow world leaders to ensure that the Russian government reckoned with the devastation it was causing to Ukraine, its own country and to the world.
Rishi Sunak said: ‘Putin’s war has caused devastation around the world – destroying lives and plunging the international economy into turmoil.
‘This G20 Summit will not be business as usual. We will call out Putin’s regime, and lay bare their utter contempt for the kind of international cooperation and respect for sovereignty forums like the G20 represent.
‘In clear contrast to Putin’s disruption, the UK and our allies will work together to make meaningful progress solving the economic challenges we face and making lives better for our people.’
Rishi Sunak needs to prioritise national security by blocking China’s ‘tech capture’ of our national infrastructure
By Sir Iain Duncan Smith
The Chinese government’s systematic attempt to infiltrate critical technology infrastructure – both in the UK and abroad – is one of the gravest risks to the UK’s security and prosperity.
Sir Jeremy Fleming, Head of GCHQ, recently said that China is using technology as a “tool to gain advantage through control of their markets, of those in their sphere of influence and of their own citizens.” Just last week, the National Cyber Security Centre warned against ‘digital dependency’ on Beijing.
The consensus from the security services is clear: if China is able to gain a substantial foothold in our critical national infrastructure, as it is evidently seeking to do, we could be held to ransom by an increasingly hostile international actor.
This should not come as a surprise. I and others of my Parliamentary colleagues led the debate surrounding Huawei’s role in our 5G network in 2020 which sparked a reassessment concerning the national security implications for Chinese state interference in our critical national infrastructure. The UK government’s eventual action against Huawei was welcome and its long-term response – the National Security and Investment Act – has been one of the quiet successes of 2022, with two putative takeover deals involving Chinese acquirers having been blocked so far.
But this may be too little too late.
Sir Jeremy Fleming, Head of GCHQ, recently said that China is using technology as a ‘tool to gain advantage through control of their markets, of those in their sphere of influence and of their own citizens’
For years we have turned a blind eye whilst Chinese state backed enterprises have infiltrated our national technology infrastructure. Just this year, it emerged that CCTV technology made by companies with direct links to the brutal Uyghur genocide in North-Western China have been installed across the UK’s high streets, in hospitals, police stations and even schools.
Now a new nightmare is brewing in the energy industry. One which could have implications for millions of households across the country.
Smart meters are becoming a critical part of our national infrastructure. The government’s aim is for all UK households to have been offered a smart meter by the end of 2025, and it is estimated that 15,000 are installed every day.
As the UK smart meter rollout gathers pace, it has come to light that an alarming number of smart meters currently being installed in UK homes have been manufactured by Kaifa Technology UK, which is controlled by a subsidiary of the state-owned China Electronics Corporation (CEC).
Costing 30% less than the average market prices of a smart meter, the models manufactured by Kaifa Technology UK are being bought up by energy suppliers such as E-On and Octopus in vast quantities – and are destined for households up and down the UK.
The International Cyber Policy Centre has designated China Electronics Corporation as ‘very high risk’ – not least due to its role as one of China’s leading producers of military electronics. The US government has already sanctioned the company for similar reasons and has blocked Kaifa from the US’ own smart meter rollout.
At the current trajectory, Kaifa’s Chinese government-linked smart meters could be installed in over three million UK homes by the end of 2025 – with many more to follow after that, as penny pinching energy suppliers seek to reduce costs.
Kaifa’s growth in the UK matters – and, critically, it is a national security issue. All smart meters feature a switch that can be used to remotely turn off power. In the wrong hands, the ability to control household power could be abused to inflict mass blackouts and damage the national grid.
Smart meter made by Kaifa Technology UK. Kaifa Technology UK is controlled by a subsidiary of the state-owned China Electronics Corporation (CEC)
Kaifa is directly affiliated with the Chinese state and its military, and as millions of Kaifa’s smart meters are rolled out across UK homes, the thought that the Chinese state may well retain access to the switches in Kaifa’s meters is chilling indeed.
UK consumers have no say over the manufacturer of the smart meters installed in their home by their energy supplier. As Kaifa UK’s market share increases, UK households face having no consent whether or not they wish to have Chinese Communist Party-affiliated technology installed in their homes.
When questioned on this issue recently, the government produced the waffle that all smart meters installed in UK homes are subject to ‘robust security standards.
However, as was demonstrated by the Huawei saga, it is surely impossible to provide concrete security assurances over products and technologies for which development and supply is overseen by the Chinese state.
If the new government is to truly get on top of the Chinese state’s attempts of ‘tech capture’, then it needs to stop hiding behind opaque ‘security standards’ and take a considerably more rigorous approach to evaluating and acting on the risks posed by technology providers with clear and provable links to the Chinese Communist Party.
Rather than treating each of these technologies as individual cases, the government needs to line up with its closest partner in security, the USA and look at them for what they are – connected parts of an insidious plan to assert China’s strategic interests over those of the UK, on our home turf and directly into the lives of UK citizens.
Now, as a matter of urgency, the Government end the installation of any more of these Chinese-linked smart meters. It must also ensure that the existing ones cannot be used by any agents of Beijing to remotely turn off power supplies. And if that can’t be done, the Government must order that each of these meters is removed and replaced with non-Chinese versions.
As was demonstrated by the Huawei saga, it is surely impossible to provide concrete security assurances over products and technologies for which development and supply is overseen by the Chinese state
I recall that earlier this summer, our new Prime Minister argued that China represents the greatest threat to our national security this century. I agree but if that is the case, the government must ensure that all parts of government act on that statement.
This means that he must now amend the integrated review and specify that China is not a competitor but a strategic threat. Such a statement will inform all other government actions necessary to protect the UK’s critical infrastructure from growing Chinese interference and ultimately the safety and security of the British public.
As is clear from the nature of these Smart Meters now rolling out across our country the subliminal threat is already there. To that threat we must also add the extraordinary dependency of our universities on Chinese money and the sinister influence of the Confucius institutes active in university campuses, spying on Chinese Students.
Then there are the three unofficial Chinese ‘Police stations,’ in the UK, in plain sight, systematically bullying Chinese people, who have chosen to leave China, often coercing their family members back in China, who are used as a threat. If that is not enough, we have now seen the brutal behaviour of Chinese diplomats assaulting a peaceful democracy campaigner on British streets in Manchester.
None of this should come as a surprise, after all, President Xi of China is Presiding over the Genocide of the Uyghur people and is responsible for the illegal takeover and militarising of the South China Seas. China also regularly uses slave labour to make products we buy here in the West, locks up peaceful democracy campaigners in Hong Kong and plans an invasion of democratic Taiwan.
President Xi Jinping has made it clear how much he despises our core values upon which our society has been built. In the 1930’s we learned the hard way that appeasement of such regimes never works
The Prime Minister goes to the G20 on Monday, which will rightly be dominated by the heroic struggle of the Ukrainian people and our obligation to support them. Yet even as China attends the same meeting, he should not miss the opportunity to remind our allies whilst there, of the enormous threat President Xi’s China poses to us now as well.
The number of totalitarian states around the globe grows and at the heart of these sits China with their Belt and Road funding.
President Xi Jinping has made it clear how much he despises our core values upon which our society has been built. In the 1930’s we learned the hard way that appeasement of such regimes never works. If nothing else, the war in Ukraine should remind us of what happens when free nations put profit before security – how ironic then that with China we are making the same mistakes all over again.
Nothing better exemplifies this more than the German Chancellor’s visit to President Xi in what seems to be another version of project Kow Tow. After all, following Germany’s failed dependency on Putin – this must rank as another sad exercise of dangerous appeasement.
The Prime Minister should remind the free world it needs to be united and he can do this by clearing out the Chinese Communist Party officials now attempting to undermine our security.
· Chingford and Woodford Green MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith was leader of the Conservative party from 2001 to 2003, and Work and Pensions Secretary from 2010 to 2016.
Sir Jeremy Fleming, Head of GCHQ, recently said that China is using technology as a ‘tool to gain advantage through control of their markets, of those in their sphere of influence and of their own citizens’
For years we have turned a blind eye whilst Chinese state backed enterprises have infiltrated our national technology infrastructure. Just this year, it emerged that CCTV technology made by companies with direct links to the brutal Uyghur genocide in North-Western China have been installed across the UK’s high streets, in hospitals, police stations and even schools.
Now a new nightmare is brewing in the energy industry. One which could have implications for millions of households across the country.
Smart meters are becoming a critical part of our national infrastructure. The government’s aim is for all UK households to have been offered a smart meter by the end of 2025, and it is estimated that 15,000 are installed every day.
As the UK smart meter rollout gathers pace, it has come to light that an alarming number of smart meters currently being installed in UK homes have been manufactured by Kaifa Technology UK, which is controlled by a subsidiary of the state-owned China Electronics Corporation (CEC).
Costing 30% less than the average market prices of a smart meter, the models manufactured by Kaifa Technology UK are being bought up by energy suppliers such as E-On and Octopus in vast quantities – and are destined for households up and down the UK.
The International Cyber Policy Centre has designated China Electronics Corporation as ‘very high risk’ – not least due to its role as one of China’s leading producers of military electronics. The US government has already sanctioned the company for similar reasons and has blocked Kaifa from the US’ own smart meter rollout.
At the current trajectory, Kaifa’s Chinese government-linked smart meters could be installed in over three million UK homes by the end of 2025 – with many more to follow after that, as penny pinching energy suppliers seek to reduce costs.
Kaifa’s growth in the UK matters – and, critically, it is a national security issue. All smart meters feature a switch that can be used to remotely turn off power. In the wrong hands, the ability to control household power could be abused to inflict mass blackouts and damage the national grid.
Smart meter made by Kaifa Technology UK. Kaifa Technology UK is controlled by a subsidiary of the state-owned China Electronics Corporation (CEC)
Kaifa is directly affiliated with the Chinese state and its military, and as millions of Kaifa’s smart meters are rolled out across UK homes, the thought that the Chinese state may well retain access to the switches in Kaifa’s meters is chilling indeed.
UK consumers have no say over the manufacturer of the smart meters installed in their home by their energy supplier. As Kaifa UK’s market share increases, UK households face having no consent whether or not they wish to have Chinese Communist Party-affiliated technology installed in their homes.
When questioned on this issue recently, the government produced the waffle that all smart meters installed in UK homes are subject to ‘robust security standards.
However, as was demonstrated by the Huawei saga, it is surely impossible to provide concrete security assurances over products and technologies for which development and supply is overseen by the Chinese state.
If the new government is to truly get on top of the Chinese state’s attempts of ‘tech capture’, then it needs to stop hiding behind opaque ‘security standards’ and take a considerably more rigorous approach to evaluating and acting on the risks posed by technology providers with clear and provable links to the Chinese Communist Party.
Rather than treating each of these technologies as individual cases, the government needs to line up with its closest partner in security, the USA and look at them for what they are – connected parts of an insidious plan to assert China’s strategic interests over those of the UK, on our home turf and directly into the lives of UK citizens.
Now, as a matter of urgency, the Government end the installation of any more of these Chinese-linked smart meters. It must also ensure that the existing ones cannot be used by any agents of Beijing to remotely turn off power supplies. And if that can’t be done, the Government must order that each of these meters is removed and replaced with non-Chinese versions.
As was demonstrated by the Huawei saga, it is surely impossible to provide concrete security assurances over products and technologies for which development and supply is overseen by the Chinese state
I recall that earlier this summer, our new Prime Minister argued that China represents the greatest threat to our national security this century. I agree but if that is the case, the government must ensure that all parts of government act on that statement.
This means that he must now amend the integrated review and specify that China is not a competitor but a strategic threat. Such a statement will inform all other government actions necessary to protect the UK’s critical infrastructure from growing Chinese interference and ultimately the safety and security of the British public.
As is clear from the nature of these Smart Meters now rolling out across our country the subliminal threat is already there. To that threat we must also add the extraordinary dependency of our universities on Chinese money and the sinister influence of the Confucius institutes active in university campuses, spying on Chinese Students.
Then there are the three unofficial Chinese ‘Police stations,’ in the UK, in plain sight, systematically bullying Chinese people, who have chosen to leave China, often coercing their family members back in China, who are used as a threat. If that is not enough, we have now seen the brutal behaviour of Chinese diplomats assaulting a peaceful democracy campaigner on British streets in Manchester.
None of this should come as a surprise, after all, President Xi of China is Presiding over the Genocide of the Uyghur people and is responsible for the illegal takeover and militarising of the South China Seas. China also regularly uses slave labour to make products we buy here in the West, locks up peaceful democracy campaigners in Hong Kong and plans an invasion of democratic Taiwan.
President Xi Jinping has made it clear how much he despises our core values upon which our society has been built. In the 1930’s we learned the hard way that appeasement of such regimes never works
The Prime Minister goes to the G20 on Monday, which will rightly be dominated by the heroic struggle of the Ukrainian people and our obligation to support them. Yet even as China attends the same meeting, he should not miss the opportunity to remind our allies whilst there, of the enormous threat President Xi’s China poses to us now as well.
The number of totalitarian states around the globe grows and at the heart of these sits China with their Belt and Road funding.
President Xi Jinping has made it clear how much he despises our core values upon which our society has been built. In the 1930’s we learned the hard way that appeasement of such regimes never works. If nothing else, the war in Ukraine should remind us of what happens when free nations put profit before security – how ironic then that with China we are making the same mistakes all over again.
Nothing better exemplifies this more than the German Chancellor’s visit to President Xi in what seems to be another version of project Kow Tow. After all, following Germany’s failed dependency on Putin – this must rank as another sad exercise of dangerous appeasement.
The Prime Minister should remind the free world it needs to be united and he can do this by clearing out the Chinese Communist Party officials now attempting to undermine our security.
· Chingford and Woodford Green MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith was leader of the Conservative party from 2001 to 2003, and Work and Pensions Secretary from 2010 to 2016.
