Special spied rice and prawn code crackers

IT WAS reported this week that Chinese spies have been placing bugs in pubs, park benches and some famous buildings in Whitehall.

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Of course this is a very serious issue and no one should make light of it, but the various ingenious attempts that countries have made to spy on each other never ceases to amaze.

A few years ago I went to Moscow and toured the famous Bolshoi Theatre: I was shown one particularly splendid room where receptions were held to entertain diplomats. It also had a strange echoing effect in that there was one part of the room in which, even if you were speaking very quietly, your words could be heard on the other side. It was similar to St Paul's Whispering Gallery and guess where the visiting diplomats were placed.