Cranes, planes and espionage: China and the US are right to be paranoid

Cranes, planes and automobiles… the new espionage, or “complete paranoia” as China claims?

News of the US Department of Defence’s concern that Chinese cranes in American ports could be used for surveillance was met with a mixture of alarm, scepticism, and derision. The Chinese Communist Party’s Global Times trumpeted: “This absurd claim, which fits the narrative style of American science fiction movies, is not only baseless, but also typical paranoid thinking”. As paranoid perhaps as Beijing banning Tesla cars from an area when the senior Party leadership is meeting there – a subject we’ll come to.  

As the Wall Street Journal first reported, US officials are worried that the software in Chinese cranes could monitor logistics in its major ports. Most concern is over ship to shore cranes made by ZPMC, a Chinese state-owned company that makes about 80% of the cranes in American ports including some used by the US military. The cranes are delivered fully assembled.

The US authorities believe sensors in the machines could act as “Trojan horses” and monitor logistical operations and map container movements. Some have technology allowing the cranes to be controlled remotely. If so, they could be turned off to disrupt supply chains.

China provides a free data collection service known as LOGINK allowing users to track ships, containers, cargo valuations, customs forms, and information exchanges between companies and governments. It is used in some of the most important ports in the world.

This is a valuable, efficient tool which helps companies plan their logistics, and its existence does not mean it is an arm of China’s intelligence agencies. However, without doubt it could be used as such.

LOGINK and ZPMC are openly state controlled, but in reality all Chinese companies answer to the state. In the past Apple has refused to hand over data to the US authorities, a luxury a company in an advanced democracy can get away with. In the one-party state dictatorship of the People’s Republic, Chinese companies do not say no to the Communist Party.

China is a world leader in mining data and being able to process it. It knows full well the advantages gained from this and uses it in many ways, not least in its vast network of facial recognition cameras to help control citizens. It embeds devices in phones belonging to Uighur Muslims to allow the state to track almost the entire population.

This understanding of the power of new technology is almost certainly why last summer, for two months, Tesla cars were banned from entering a large area of the Beidaihe coastal district in the city of Qinhuangdao during a meeting of the Politburo. No reason was given other than it was a “national affair”. Tesla cars were also banned in Chengdu during a visit by President Xi, and they’ve been prevented from entering military bases.

China’s concern is that Tesla cars (made by an American company) have several cameras and sensors which, if hacked, could send a steady stream of information about who is where and for how long. A hostile actor might want to build up a picture of daily routines for groups of people or an individual. This is why China published rules in 2021 compelling car companies to keep any data transmitted from a car within China’s borders. They must also tell the government what type of data is being collected. Tesla is among the companies which have agreed.

So, are the Chinese paranoid? No. They are prudent, and so are the Americans in taking a closer look at cranes. It will be a surprise if the intelligence services are not also looking at the potential threat from Chinese cars sold in the US. At the moment this is a small market – but it’s growing rapidly.

So is ZPMC. It is a successful, efficient company providing services at prices port managers like. It’s just about everywhere, including the UK. The port of Felixstowe, for example, has at least ten ZPMC cranes including remote controlled versions.

It’s a major player throughout Europe. For instance, in Italy its products are in Vado Ligure, a port city in the North, Gioia Tauro in Calabria, and Taranto in South-eastern Italy which is an important port for NATO activities. The Italian Parliament’s Intelligence Committee has warned that China’s interest in Italian ports may have a negative strategic effect on Italy’s security. It also pointed to 5G technology and Italian academia as areas in which China sought negative influence.

The Americans are considering reducing, and, in some cases, even stripping out Chinese products from critical infrastructure. A study by the Maritime Administration, backed by defence agencies, is due to be completed in December and will report on the extent to which foreign-made cranes threaten national security. A 2022 bill called the Port Crane Security and Inspection Act which would have required software to be removed from new foreign cranes didn’t make it past committee stage. Depending on what the Maritime Administration report recommends, it may be dusted off.

This is all part of the new world of espionage. Huawei, TikTok, ZPMC, and yes, Tesla, may not be being used for spying, but intelligence officials would be asleep at the wheel if they didn’t recognise the potential.

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