The vehicles observed: Hongqi high-top SUVs and modified U.S. models
Photographs and video from May 13 show two unusually tall SUVs based on a current-generation Hongqi model traveling in President Trump’s motorcade in Beijing. The pair featured massive customized roof structures that visibly loaded the rear axles and included an attachment at the rear whose function is unclear from available views. In the same motorcade were a Lincoln Navigator and a Chevy Suburban with roof modifications, plus a Ford E-series van with a modified roof and work lights around its edges. Several of the American-designed vehicles carried Chinese license plates.
Ownership signals: license plates and official confirmation
The U.S. Secret Service told TWZ it was not the operator of any of the vehicles discussed in this piece, but it could not say whether they belonged to the U.S. Embassy or the Chinese government. The Suburban carried a black plate with white lettering — a plate type the article notes is issued for foreign-owned vehicles in China and that might point to U.S. Embassy ownership, although the piece cautions China has issued black-and-white diplomatic plates with red kanji in other cases. All of the American-designed vehicles were seen with Chinese plates.
Apparent equipment and speculative roles
The purpose of the tall custom roofs on the Hongqi SUVs is not stated in public reporting; TWZ lists possible fits that would require additional vertical space. Those possibilities include an electronic warfare package, a directed energy device, or a communications array. The Lincoln Navigator’s smaller rooftop addition might contain an electronic warfare or satellite communications system and appears to host a small electro-optical sensor turret and several whip-type antennas. The Chevy Suburban shows an X-shaped antenna array commonly associated with UHF satellite communications and bears a visual resemblance to command, control, and communications “Roadrunner” vehicles historically operated by the White House Communications Agency (WHCA) and other U.S. units, a configuration TWZ illustrates side-by-side with an ex-WHCA Roadrunner.
Placement and composition inside the motorcade
Video shows the two high-top Hongqi SUVs positioned at multiple points in the convoy — one at the front and one at the rear in the clip TWZ cites — suggesting organizers placed them to serve roles at both ends of the formation. The Hongqi vehicles ran low on their rear axles, indicating substantial internal weight, and the front of the roof includes an upper fairing. There are no obvious apertures or firing ports visible in available imagery, and it is unknown whether any portion of the tops retracts or deploys.
How the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Embassy, and Chinese security forces are implicated
The U.S. Secret Service confirmed it did not operate the vehicles, but TWZ notes that Secret Service and other U.S. authorities routinely bring large numbers of vehicles and equipment to support presidential visits overseas and that State Department and local security forces are leveraged. The Suburban’s foreign-owner-style plate keeps the possibility open that a U.S. government agency such as WHCA or another element could be the operator, while TWZ also highlights the possibility that some vehicles in the convoy were provided or supported by Chinese authorities. Separately, TWZ notes that marked Chinese Police Ford F-150 pickups with a roughly similar rooftop sensor-turret configuration were seen deployed in Beijing during the visit.
What continued observation could reveal
TWZ emphasizes that specialized and sometimes unusual vehicles are a common feature of VVIP motorcades and that new configurations have previously emerged as additions to presidential convoys. The article concludes that if the Hongqi high-top SUVs remain a recurring element in Beijing motorcades for state visits, further appearances may yield clearer pictures of their configuration and function.
Original reporting: TWZ — Mysterious Chinese SUV With Massive Roof Featured In Trump Motorcade In Beijing
