A defence official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently examining the possible threats associated with Chinese vehicles, while staff have been told to avoid talking about classified matters in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired interview on a radio station, a defence minister addressed reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to discuss secret information while travelling in China-made cars.
He said that the MoD is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, however stressed that security is a concern in every modern vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD devices into their car, not to have conversations at a classified level in any kind of car, due to the increasing risks of surveillance that are present in every single vehicle, to only have those confidential talks in protected areas. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using all cars from China, the minister replied: That is exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Background
The announcement comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could allow China to switch off public transport and cause disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly directing laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
This broader defence situation underscores the significance of robust protocols and caution in every areas of official operations, including transport usage to communication habits.
