Belgian Government Warns about Risk of Espionage from Xiaomi Products

Belgium warned that products from Xiaomi, the popular Chinese smartphone manufacturer, could play a role in Chinese espionage efforts. In a statement to a Belgian lawmaker today, the country’s Justice Ministry warned that there is “at least a risk of undesirable data transfer to the Chinese authorities, and therefore espionage.”

Belgium’s state security unit for the first time raises fear of China spying on Huawei and Xiaomi phone users.

“There is…a risk of unwanted data transfer to Chinese authorities and thereby of espionage,” justice minister @VincentVQ told Beijing-sanctioned MP @SamuelCogolati. pic.twitter.com/no0e9ZODQ0

— Stuart Lau (@StuartKLau) February 14, 2022

Vincent Van Quickenborne, the Belgian official who issued the warning, cited a Forbes report from 2020 that found that Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 8 smartphone sent users’ browsing data to servers in China.

He also noted a claim from Lithuania’s cybersecurity arm that Xiaomi smartphones are packaged with software capable of censoring sensitive political phrases, including those involving Taiwan, Tibet, and other political topics. The Lithuanian government also detailed security flaws in Huawei devices.

Soon after Vilnius issued its report, Taiwan’s National Communications Commission found that Xiaomi’s Mi 10 smartphone has similar censorship capabilities.

At the time, I explained why Lithuania’s announcement was significant for the U.S., where Xiaomi doesn’t have much of a presence. The Pentagon had attempted to blacklist Xiaomi over its apparent ties to China’s military-industrial complex. That move, however, was blocked by a federal judge, who ruled that the Defense Department failed to prove that Xiaomi is affiliated with China’s defense-industrial base.

The Pentagon dropped the case last May, citing the legal challenge. But despite the court’s ruling, there were clear indications that Xiaomi and its leadership had ties to China’s military-civil fusion efforts. All of that left open the possibility that Americans could continue to invest in Xiaomi, which would not have been possible if it had remained on the blacklist.

Meanwhile, the European Union has yet to investigate Xiaomi, according to Quickenborne.

There’s more than enough information available to suggest that Xiaomi devices should be barred from democracies concerned about Chinese espionage — which is why Lithuania and Taiwan, two countries on the frontlines of Chinese authoritarianism, are leading the charge. Just as the U.S. led a campaign to isolate Huawei from telecommunication infrastructure globally, governments concerned about the use of Xiaomi devices should take steps to curtail their use.

Unfortunately, officials in Washington have been held back by the courts, and their EU counterparts are asleep at the switch.