Israeli security officials investigated a suspicion that gifts to several Israeli government offices from the Chinese Embassy in Israel contained listening devices, Army Radio reported on Monday morning

A suspicious component was found in a routine security check in one of the thermal mugs sent from the Chinese Embassy that aroused the suspicion that an eavesdropping device had been included in the gift.

Security officials confirmed that something suspicious was found in a mug received from the embassy but said its nature is still unclear.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Shin Bet stated that “technological experts found that it was an innocent component meant to maintain a vacuum in the sides of the mug and maintain the temperature over time.”

However, it was too late to avoid harm to Israel-China relations, with the Chinese Embassy issuing a statement that the so-called spying device is a “getter”- a component used in many thermal mugs and stating that “the baseless rumors have a serious impact because they seek to drive a wedge between China and Israel, tarnish China’s image and seriously mislead the public.”

The statement continued by slamming the media, saying: “Media reports say they quoted ‘sources’ from a relevant Israeli government authority, but the government authority mentioned made it clear to the embassy that it had not made any press release on the matter. We urge the relevant media to immediately withdraw the false reports, stop assisting in spreading rumors and take real action to counteract the negative effects that have already been caused.”

The embassy spokesman concluded the message in a threatening tone: “If the media agencies insist on spreading such rumors, we reserve the right to demand responsibility.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)