A defense minister has stated that the MoD is actively investigating the possible security risks posed by Chinese cars, and personnel have been told to avoid talking about secret information in any vehicles.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired interview on a radio station, a defence minister commented on claims that MoD staff have been instructed not to discuss classified information while riding in China-made cars.
He said that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but noted that safety is a issue in all modern cars.
We have a fleet of thousands of cars in the MoD 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, what we’ve asked our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any kind of car, because of the increasing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all automobile, to only have those confidential talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for everyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using all Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
This revelation comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese buses, which could allow China to disable buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
This broader defence environment underscores the significance of robust measures and vigilance in all aspects of government activities, including transport use to communication practices.
