A defense minister has confirmed that the MoD is actively examining the potential security risks posed by Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been instructed to refrain from discussing secret information in all cars.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
During a recent interview on a radio station, a defence minister commented on reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to discuss classified information while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
The minister said that the MoD is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, however emphasised that safety is a issue in all contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their car, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any kind of vehicle, because of the increasing threats of surveillance that are present in every single automobile, to restrict those confidential talks in protected areas. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for anyone worried about safety.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using every cars from China, the minister responded: That is precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
This revelation follows reports from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the presence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and cause disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly directing lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
This wider security environment underscores the importance of robust measures and caution in all areas of official operations, including vehicle usage to discussions practices.
