Navy ends tradition of Chinese laundrymen on warships over spying fears
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The Navy is ditching its century-old tradition of having Chinese servants on warships amid fears they could be spying.
Hundreds of Chinese laundrymen have worked on British ships since the 1930s with most from Hong Kong but will now be replaced by Nepalese Gurkhas.
The Sun reported that the Ministry of Defence had made the decision over fears Beijing could obtain secret information by threatening the loved ones of laundrymen.
The paper said that three Chinese nationals were barred from joining HMS Queen Elizabeth, the Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, on her strike group voyage to the contested South China Sea.
A fourth Chinese laundryman was dismissed this month after 39 years of washing and pressing sailors’ uniforms and officers’ white tablecloths because his family lives in Hong Kong.
The tradition began as a local custom early in the last century and was formalised through contracts with various Hong Kong companies.
‘Navy has no choice’
Former First Sea Lord Admiral Lord West told The Sun that the Navy had “no choice” but to cut the historic ties with Chinese laundrymen.
“If it is a question of security, the Navy has no choice. But it’s sad as Chinese laundrymen have fought wars with us, some have died for us.”
At least four Chinese nationals still work for the Royal Navy but it is understood that they passed vetting because their families moved to Britain keeping them safe from interference from Beijing.
The move comes after Ken McCallum, the head of MI5 said China is trying to steal nuclear secrets from the UK and it was “high priority” for China to disrupt the UK, US and Australian partnership to build a new fleet of nuclear submarines.
His warning comes at a time when the head of the Royal Navy has expressed concern that US bureaucracy has hindered the sharing of technology by the US with its partners in the deal.
Aukus was conceived in 2021 to counter China’s growing influence and its muscle-flexing in the Pacific region.
However since the deal was announced, China’s spy agencies have tried to infiltrate the project and steal its secrets, Mr McCallum said.
Briefing journalists at a security summit in California last week, Mr McCallum said he could not disclose “specific” details of China’s attempts to hack into the project.
He added: “If you saw the wider public Chinese reaction when the Aukus alliance was announced, you can infer they were not pleased.
“Given everything else you know about the way in which Chinese espionage and interference is taking place, it would be safe to assume that it would be a high priority for them to understand what’s happening inside Aukus and seek to disrupt it if they were able to.”
A Royal Navy spokesman said: “We ensure all civilian contractors have the appropriate security clearances.”
