The U.S. administration imposed a sweeping "digital lockdown," fully controlling smartphone use and internet access for the hundreds of members of the delegation visiting China with U.S. President Donald Trump. U.S. authorities designated China as the world's highest-risk country for cyber surveillance and effectively banned connecting to local Wi-Fi and using everyday electronic devices to prevent information leaks.
According to Fox News on the 13th local time, hundreds of U.S. officials, aides, and security personnel accompanying President Trump on the China trip are leaving behind the mobile phones they used in daily life in the United States before departure. They instead received a controlled communications system designed to minimize surveillance risk and "clean phones" stripped down to essential functions. They are also issued separate temporary laptops with maximized security features.
The U.S. government assumes that phones, laptops, and tablets brought into China, as well as hotel Wi-Fi, are potentially under surveillance or hacked. Messages that would normally be exchanged instantly via encrypted messaging apps or synced devices during the talks will be replaced with controlled channels, temporary accounts, or in-person briefings. To prevent email-based hacking, officials will not leave official contact details such as government email addresses. Meeting materials will be used on paper and then shredded. Sensitive conversations will be handled only inside a temporary Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) specially designed to block electronic surveillance. Fox News said, "The White House Military Office and communications team will install it directly at controllable locations such as hotels."
Charging via local USB ports is completely banned. The measure is to block a hacking method known as "juice jacking," in which malware is implanted through public charging stations to steal information. The Trump administration allowed only preapproved power banks and government-certified charging equipment for the delegation.
Former White House chief information officer Teresa Payton told Fox News on the 13th, "You have to assume that everything you say and do, whether in person or digital, can be monitored." The Trump administration also said it is using a "golden image" technique, comparing device states before and after the trip to determine whether certified devices were tampered with.
The United States has continued to warn about China's cyber espionage campaign since a Chinese spy balloon crossed the U.S. mainland's airspace in 2023. Recently, it said China-linked hacking groups Volt Typhoon and Salt Typhoon attacked key U.S. infrastructure and communications networks to lay the groundwork for intelligence gathering and disruption in the event of a conflict. Executives from major corporations at the center of U.S.-China economic and technology ties, including Apple, Boeing, Qualcomm, and BlackRock, are also accompanying the delegation. With the risk of entire sets of industrial technology information being exposed growing, the U.S. government is seen as having raised security levels to an all-time high. Bill Gage, formerly of the U.S. Secret Service, said, "China is a mass surveillance state," adding, "You have to assume that briefings for officials that begin well before the president's arrival are all being monitored."
The Chinese government flatly rejected the U.S. allegations. Liu Pengyu, Spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the United States, said, "In China, personal information is protected by law," and "The Chinese government, in accordance with the law, makes the protection of data privacy and security a top priority." He added, "We have never asked corporations or individuals to collect or store data in violation of the law, and we will not do so in the future."