Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

China is the 'greatest strategic threat' facing Britain, GCHQ reveals

China is the 'greatest strategic threat' facing Britain, GCHQ reveals

GCHQ director Jeremy Fleming has named China as the 'greatest strategic threat,' facing the UK, as he revealed Britain is 'operating even more closely' with Europe than before the referendum.

China is the 'greatest strategic threat,' facing Britain, GCHQ has revealed as it warned cyber security teams were dealing with up to 60 serious incidents every month.

Jeremy Fleming, director of GCHQ, has warned of the threat China poses after offering assurances that intelligence haring with the EU will not change in the event of a No Deal Brexit.

Mr Fleming warned vaccine suppliers and hospitals were being targeted by Chinese hackers looking to capitalise on uncertainty brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit.

Yesterday General Sir Patrick Sanders, commander of UK Strategic Command, told The Sun that the threat China posed to the UK was 'chronic'.

Mr Fleming revealed the National Cyber Security Centre is dealing with around 60 serious incidents every month.

He said around 200 incidents over the last nine months have been related to coronavirus.

Mr Fleming told The Sun: 'We have seen serious criminals and states trying to take advantage of this situation. They have targeted the vaccine's production and supply chains, government services and healthcare.

He went on to warn that members of the public were being tricked into handing over money in scams that posed as offering Covid-19 testing and treatment.

Warnings over China came as Mr Fleming warned that an agreement still needed to be reached with the EU around data adequacy, a status granted by the European Commission allowing a free flow of data between European Economic Area (EEA) countries and those outside it.

However, Mr Fleming said the UK is operating 'even more closely' with European counterparts now than it was at the point of the 2016 referendum.

The GCHQ chief was speaking at a Chatham House event alongside General Sir Patrick Sanders, Commander Strategic Command, about the UK's recently revealed National Cyber Force, a joint MI6 and military effort to combat the growing threat of hostile states, terrorists and criminals online.

Sir Patrick said the relationship with key EU allies is 'strong enough to withstand any of the strain and tension that may arise' after December 31 in terms of defence and security.

'It's no secret that the UK is one of the two leading powers in defence and security of Europe and that regardless of the outcome on the 1st of January that won't change and our relationships with our European partners and a few in particular is strong enough to withstand any of the strain and tension that may arise as a result of that,' he explained.


Yesterday General Sir Patrick Sanders, commander of UK Strategic Command, told The Sun that the threat China posed to the UK was 'chronic'


'When it comes to all the defence and security aspects that I'm involved with, those links will not change and if anything they will be as strong, and of course Nato is the critical but not the only vehicle.'

Mr Fleming said: 'It is the case that today we are operating even more closely with our European colleagues than we were at the point of the referendum and we do that because there's great national self-interest in close cooperation and I fully expect that to be the case the 1st of January, deal or no deal.

'We need to reach an agreement with the EU around data adequacy, it is the UK's position that our arrangements – obviously because they have been developed whilst we were in the European Union – are adequate in so far as the EU is concerned going forward and we just need to nail that down, but I think that can be a relatively straightforward thing.'

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×