The spies who love Xi – How is China snooping on Britain?

The Bunker

Podmasters

News, Politics, Society & Culture, Government

4.6 • 984 Ratings

🗓️ 6 June 2025

⏱️ 21 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A Chinese ‘super embassy’ could be built in the heart of London – and intelligence experts say it would open the door to cyber interference at the heart of Britain’s financial system. Today on The Bunker, Gavin Esler sits down with security expert Nigel Inkster, former director of operations and intelligence MI6 and senior advisor at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, to ask if Britain is turning a blind eye to the growing threat from Beijing? With fears of espionage, tech theft and power plays rising fast, how worried should we really be about China? • We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to https://indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Follow us on BlueSky. Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Produced by Liam Tait. Audio editors: Robin Leeburn. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	There's quite a lot of ads on our podcasts these days.
0:02.4	We need them to pay for our team.
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0:08.4	Back us on Patreon.
0:09.4	That means no ads and uninterrupted listening.
0:12.2	Follow the link in the show notes to find out more.
0:16.7	Amazon offers employees up to £8,000 for education and training.
0:21.6	Like Juliet, she's now a trained technician.
0:24.6	And to her, the sound of machinery in need of repair,
0:28.6	reminds her of how far she's come.
0:32.6	In two years, she's landed her dream job, providing her with valuable skills.
0:38.7	That's up to £8,000 for education and training at Amazon.
0:42.8	Eligibility conditions apply.
0:52.6	Hello and welcome to The Bunker. I'm Gavin Esler. How worried should we be about an emerging superpower,
0:59.7	a nation half a world away, China. Last month at a major summit of Asian nations in Singapore,
1:05.9	the Trump administration's defence secretary Pete Higgsath warned that the threat China poses is real and could be imminent.
1:13.5	On Taiwan, which China sees as a rebellious province, Hegis said Beijing was, quote,
1:19.3	rehearsing for the real deal, in other words, war planning a potential military attack on Taiwan,
1:24.7	resulting in a major conflict in the Pacific.
1:31.6	British intelligence agencies, meanwhile, are increasingly concerned about Chinese spying for technological, scientific, economic, and national security reasons.
1:36.9	For example, a major redevelopment of what some called the planned Chinese superembacy in London
1:43.1	at the former Royal Mintz site near the Tower of London.
	...

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