A defense minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently examining the potential security risks associated with Chinese vehicles, and staff have been told to avoid discussing classified matters in all cars.
Safety Guidance for Defence Personnel
During a recent interview on LBC, a defence minister commented on reports that MoD officials have been told not to discuss secret information while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
The minister said that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its fleets, however noted that security is a issue in all modern vehicles.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD devices into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a secret classification in any kind of car, because of the increasing threats of eavesdropping that exist in all automobile, to only have those secret talks in secure locations. This is a wise and sensible thing for anyone worried about security.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using every Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: That is precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Broader Security Background
This revelation follows claims from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese buses, which could allow China to disable buses and bring disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
The broader security situation highlights the importance of strong measures and caution in all aspects of official operations, from transport usage to discussions habits.
