An defence minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the potential security risks posed by Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been advised to refrain from talking about secret information in all vehicles.
Safety Guidance for MoD Personnel
In a recently aired appearance on a radio station, a defence minister commented on reports that MoD officials have been told not to talk about classified information while travelling in China-made vehicles.
He stated that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its fleets, but stressed that security is a issue in all modern vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD devices into their car, not to have conversations at a secret level in any kind of car, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in every single vehicle, to only have those confidential talks in secure locations. This is a prudent and sensible thing for everyone worried about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using all cars from China, the minister responded: That is precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Defence Context
The revelation comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and cause chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
This broader defence environment highlights the significance of robust measures and vigilance in all areas of official operations, including transport use to discussions habits.
