China spy on me? I’m not important enough

I use two Huawei phones, and one Xiaomi tablet, so my eye was drawn towards Issue 616’s ‘Question of the Fortnight’ (‘Is it safe to use phones made in China?’, pictured above right). I share much of the concern raised by security services in the West, and it feels like we are heading into a second cold war, with Beijing replacing Moscow. I also have no doubt that

China wouldn’t think twice about monitoring its own citizens through technology.

But I’m a semiretired solicitor living in Suffolk. I’m not organising pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. I can’t think why China would want to eavesdrop on my messages, but even if it did, it wouldn’t find them very interesting (unless it thinks I’m plotting the overthrow of Xi Jinping by organising bridge nights and pub quizzes).

I like the devices I’ve bought from Huawei and Xiaomi. They’re affordable, easy to use and have regular updates. I admit that I had a fleeting doubt about their security, but realised that I’m not important enough for China to worry about. I wonder though for how long we’ll be allowed to buy Chinese-made devices. Will they soon be deemed too much of a threat to national security? George Shipton

I’ve had Blackberries, LG and Samsung phones, and an iphone, but the best device I’ve ever had is the five-year-old phone I’m still using – the 3T from Chinese company Oneplus. The only time I ever have to reboot it is after installing updates. It’s still got a good battery life, and still does everything I want. I won’t be throwing it away until it dies. Patricia Trueman