A defence minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the possible threats associated with Chinese cars, while personnel have been instructed to avoid talking about classified information in any vehicles.
Security Advice for MoD Staff
During a recently aired appearance on a radio station, a defence minister addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to talk about classified material while travelling in China-made vehicles.
The minister said that the MoD is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however stressed that security is a issue in all modern cars.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles account for a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our people is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their car, to avoid having discussions at a classified classification in any vehicle, due to the growing risks of surveillance that exist in all vehicle, to only have those secret talks in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for everyone concerned about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using every cars from China, the minister responded: That is precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Background
The revelation comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at RAF pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
The broader defence situation underscores the significance of strong measures and caution in all aspects of government activities, including transport use to communication practices.
