A defence official has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the possible threats associated with Chinese vehicles, while personnel have been told to refrain from discussing classified information in any cars.
Security Guidance for Defence Staff
During a recent interview on a radio station, a defence minister commented on reports that MoD officials have been told not to talk about secret information while riding in China-made cars.
The minister stated that the MoD is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but emphasised that safety is a concern in every contemporary cars.
Our department has a collection of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles represent a very small number.
However whether you’re driving a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a secret level in any car, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that exist in all vehicle, to restrict those confidential conversations in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using every cars from China, the minister responded: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Security Context
The announcement comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow China to disable public transport and cause chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
This wider security situation underscores the importance of robust measures and caution in every aspects of government activities, including transport usage to discussions practices.
