Remix.run Logo
Travelers on Air Force One ordered to throw away gifts, phones after China trip(techcrunch.com)
22 points by leopoldj 7 hours ago | 30 comments
arbirk 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

EU officials have to do the same when leaving the US

gpt5 6 hours ago | parent [-]

Source? I didn’t know EU officials are required to use burner phones in the US

ano-ther 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

https://www.theregister.com/security/2025/04/15/report-ec-is...

866-RON-0-FEZ 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Anonymous sources, the EC didn't confirm anything, and the "proof" is well they didn't deny it either.

Quality reporting as usual from El Reg.

6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]
[deleted]
arbirk 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

https://www.computerworld.dk/art/291220/frygter-spionage-eu-...

surgical_fire 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

They definitely should. The US is a profoundly untrustworthy country.

stronglikedan 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Standard Practice? Yes. News? No. Hacker News? Hell no!

NooneAtAll3 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

it's literally the most important plane of US government

secrecy concerns about happenings on board are obvious and are just basic security procedure

---

the only question is whether there was an alternative way (on support transports) to keep anything to regift or smth

6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]
[deleted]
z2 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Actually throw away as in discard and leave behind in China? I thought the logical thing to do would be to put them into a faraday cage and inspect them later in a lab.

6 hours ago | parent [-]
[deleted]
gorgoiler 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Seems odd to “throw the items in a bin”. You’d more likely want to know who was given what, put each item in a sealed container, then analyze them later on. Unless you were dumb enough to think it was a bomb.

calmbonsai 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Why did his non-news published by this perpetual rag make the front page?! Nuclear down-voting this.

maxglute 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

So what happens to the stuff after, I presume the embassy picks it up for processing, or it gets forwarded to US on another flight for processing, presumably some Chinese janitor is not going to have access to Rubios burner phone to resell.

rationalist 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Aren't there companies that issue burner phones and burner laptops for the same reason?

retired 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Ten years ago, a Dutch company I worked for had a standard protocol after government delegation trips to China: every phone and laptop used on the visit was fed straight into an industrial shredder.

866-RON-0-FEZ 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

It's standard practice in the industry — if your company has a competent IT department — to mandate burner laptops and devices in China.

blipvert 6 hours ago | parent [-]

And now for EU visitors to the US.

benbojangles 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Didn't China steal the F-22/F35/B2/C17 blueprints, and also stole COVID?

Leonard_of_Q 4 hours ago | parent [-]

The former, yes. The latter, no, that one was partly paid for by Fauci & co. who also did their best (but failed, [1, page 9 and onwards]) to keep this fact out of the news.

[1] https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/letter-and-t...

tibbydudeza 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Soviet children gave the US ambassador a plaque of peace -hidden inside was a recording device that drew no power and gave off no emissions - it was activated when the KGB beamed a specific frequency to it and the feedback from it using fancy maths could give a realtime recording.

NooneAtAll3 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

shouldn't they have been warned before even flying there?

browningstreet 6 hours ago | parent [-]

Jensen didn’t even know he was going on the trip… not a lot of forethought or process involved.

jmclnx 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

If I am not mistaken, isn't doing this an insult to China ?

Do me they could have put the items in a sealed maybe 'lead' box and examine them later.

boothby 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

The Chinese government would be stupid to not do the exact same thing when departing the US. They aren't stupid, and they aren't going to wage war on the basis of some discarded lapel pins.

6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]
[deleted]
not_the_fda 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

It should be SOP for any country's diplomats visiting another country.

Simulacra 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I mean, the Chinese are probably ordered to do the same thing after a state visit to America

daxuak 7 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

[dead]