A defence minister has stated that the MoD is currently looking into the potential security risks posed by Chinese cars, while personnel have been instructed to refrain from talking about secret information in any cars.
Safety Guidance for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired appearance on LBC, a defence minister commented on claims that MoD officials have been told not to talk about secret information while travelling in China-made vehicles.
He explained that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its fleets, but stressed that security is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a collection of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their car, to avoid having discussions at a classified level in any vehicle, because of the increasing threats of eavesdropping that are present in every single vehicle, to only have those secret talks in secure locations. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using all cars from China, the minister responded: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Defence Context
This revelation comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow China to switch off buses and cause chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship has been shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
The broader defence environment underscores the importance of strong measures and caution in every areas of government activities, including transport use to discussions practices.
