US State Department officials have not given a reason for their decision to abandon New York’s Waldorf-Astoria hotel for the first time in decades during this year’s UN general assembly.
But when Hilton Worldwide sold the high-end Midtown hotel to the Beijing-based Anbang Insurance Group for $1.95bn last year in a sale that allowed for “a major renovation”, eyebrows were raised in Washington, where fears of Chinese eavesdropping and cyber-espionage run high.
The switch to the New York Palace Hotel will affect hundreds of American diplomats and support staff who travel to New York for the General Assembly each September and stay at the Waldorf.For the first time in decades, the General Assembly will be held not at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria hotel, but at the New York Palace Hotel this fall.
The department routinely warns US diplomats in China about physical and electronic surveillance and tells American citizens in the country to be aware of similar risks, notably in hotels.
Asked whether the hotel thought the State Department’s switch had anything to do with its transfer to Chinese owners, and if it was unjust to claim the hotel might be monitored by Chinese spies, a spokesperson said: “It is always a privilege to host representatives of the US Department of State and we hope to have the occasion to welcome them back to the Waldorf Astoria New York when the opportunity presents itself.”
Adam Segal, a China and cybersecurity expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the Waldorf-Astoria’s ownership did not necessarily indicate that it was or was not subject to surveillance.
According to Segal, the sale of the Waldorf-Astoria to Anbang Insurance Group gave officials a sense that there were greater chances for spying, but actually hacks had little to do with who owns a particular building. Segal said moving their location to the Palace Hotel “may provide a the perception of greater security, but not any guarantee of it”.
Kerschala Dark, a guest from Germany staying at the Waldorf-Astoria, told the Guardian he was surprised when he heard on Wednesday about the move to New York Palace Hotel. “I was surprised to hear about the switch, but didn’t know why it had happened,” he said.
He was unaware of concerns surrounding hotel security, and said he had not been told anything about possible surveillance from the Chinese before arriving at the hotel. “I never heard about Chinese spying before,” Dark said.
