An defence minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the potential security risks associated with Chinese-made vehicles, and staff have been instructed to avoid discussing secret information in all cars.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
In a recently aired interview on LBC, a defence minister commented on claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to discuss classified material while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
He explained that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however emphasised that safety is a issue in all contemporary 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 vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their car, to avoid having conversations at a classified classification in any car, due to the increasing risks of surveillance that are present in every single automobile, to only have those secret talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone worried about security.
After it was put to him that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using every Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
This revelation follows claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese buses, which could enable China to switch off buses and cause disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
This wider defence environment underscores the significance of robust measures and vigilance in every areas of government operations, including vehicle usage to communication habits.
