An defence minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the potential threats posed by Chinese-made cars, and personnel have been advised to refrain from discussing classified matters in all vehicles.
Security Advice for Defence Staff
In a recently aired interview on a radio station, a defence minister addressed reports that MoD staff have been instructed not to talk about secret information while travelling in China-made vehicles.
The minister explained that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its fleets, but emphasised that security is a issue in all modern cars.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any kind of vehicle, because of the increasing risks of eavesdropping that are present in every single vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about safety.
After it was put to him that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using all Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: That is exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Security Context
This announcement comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese electric buses, which could allow China to disable buses and cause chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship has been shining laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
This wider security environment highlights the significance of strong measures and caution in every areas of government activities, including transport usage to discussions habits.