Minister Confirms Ministry of Defence Examining Security Risk from Chinese Cars, as Personnel Advised to Refrain from Secret Talk in Vehicles.
An defence official has confirmed that the MoD is currently looking into the possible threats associated with Chinese-made cars, while personnel have been told to avoid discussing secret matters in any cars.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
In a recent interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to discuss classified information while riding in China-made cars.
The minister stated that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its fleets, but emphasised that safety is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a collection of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
But whether you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any kind of car, because of the growing risks of surveillance that are present in all vehicle, to only have those confidential conversations in protected areas. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using all Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Security Context
This announcement comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could allow China to disable public transport and bring chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “extremely risky” action by government representatives.
The broader security situation highlights the significance of strong measures and vigilance in all aspects of official operations, including transport usage to communication practices.
