Chinese President Xi Jinping made a rare public display of humor on Saturday, surprising onlookers with a hilarious exchange about “espionage” as he presented two Chinese mobile phones to South Korean President Lee Jae-myung.
The moment, caught on camera, happened during an exchange of diplomatic gifts on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the South Korean city of Gyeongju.
Xi’s visit to South Korea, his first since 2014, comes after years of strained relations between the two countries, which have included issues ranging from trade to cultural disputes.
What did Xi Lee say?
President Xi presented several gifts to Korean President Lee, including two high-end smartphones – one for him and one for his wife. The phones were made by Chinese tech giant Xiaomi with a Korean-made display, Xi’s spokesman said, as the two leaders inspected them with rolling cameras, the New York Times reported.
Inspecting one of the phones, still in its box, President Lee admired it and then asked about the device’s security. “Is the communication line secure?” President Lee asked casually, prompting laughter from the delegations.
President Xi, who is rarely seen speaking spontaneously in public, responded with a smirk and pointed to the device, saying, “You can check if there is a backdoor (for spying),” referring to pre-installed software that third parties can access to monitor the device. This remark drew laughter and applause from President Lee.
The threat from Chinese technology
The exchange comes amid long-standing concerns about Chinese technology and espionage. The Xiaomi brand was once blacklisted by the United States before it successfully challenged the court’s decision to lift the ban, Mint reported earlier.
In September, some Chinese hackers were accused of waging a cyberespionage campaign against US technology companies and law firms, often stealing national security secrets without detection, Alphabet Inc’s Google said, as quoted by Bloomberg. The attackers targeted major US technology developers by stealing the source code of corporate technologies as well as spying on the mailboxes of specific technical individuals.
Technology is not the only tool China has allegedly used for espionage. China is also using “sexual warfare” tactics to seduce and spy on Silicon Valley professionals, according to a recent report by The Times.
