An defence official has confirmed that the MoD is actively examining the potential threats posed by Chinese cars, while staff have been told to refrain from discussing classified information in all vehicles.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
During a recent appearance on a radio station, a defence minister commented on claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to talk about secret material while travelling in China-made cars.
He stated that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but noted that safety is a concern in every modern cars.
We have a fleet 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, our instruction to our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their car, to avoid having discussions at a classified classification in any kind of vehicle, due to the growing risks of eavesdropping that exist in every single automobile, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. This is a wise and reasonable thing for anyone worried about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using every cars from China, the minister responded: That is precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
This revelation follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off buses and cause chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been directing laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
The broader security environment underscores the significance of robust measures and caution in every aspects of government operations, including transport usage to communication habits.
