An defense minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the possible security risks posed by Chinese-made cars, and staff have been advised to avoid discussing classified information in all vehicles.
Safety Advice for Defence Staff
In a recent interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to discuss classified information while riding in China-made vehicles.
He stated that the MoD is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but stressed that safety is a issue in every modern cars.
We have a collection of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a secret level in any car, because of the growing risks of eavesdropping that exist in every single vehicle, to restrict those confidential conversations in protected areas. This is a wise and sensible thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using all Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Background
This announcement comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off public transport and cause chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining lasers at RAF aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
This wider security situation underscores the importance of strong measures and vigilance in all aspects of government operations, including transport usage to discussions practices.
