An defence minister has stated that the MoD is actively investigating the potential threats posed by Chinese cars, and staff have been advised to avoid talking about secret information in any vehicles.
Security Advice for MoD Personnel
In a recently aired interview on a radio station, a defence minister commented on reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to talk about classified information while riding in China-made vehicles.
The minister stated that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its fleets, however noted that safety is a issue in all contemporary vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret level in any car, due to the growing threats of surveillance that are present in all vehicle, to only have those confidential conversations in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using all Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: That is precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
The announcement comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship has been shining laser beams at RAF pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
This wider security situation highlights the importance of robust measures and caution in all aspects of official operations, including vehicle use to discussions practices.
