A defense official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently examining the possible security risks associated with Chinese cars, and staff have been told to refrain from talking about secret information in any cars.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
During a recently aired interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed reports that MoD staff have been instructed not to discuss classified information while travelling in China-made cars.
He explained that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however stressed that safety is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a fleet of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a classified classification in any car, because of the growing threats of surveillance that exist in every single vehicle, to restrict those confidential talks in secure locations. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using all Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: That is precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
This revelation follows claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off public transport and bring chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been directing lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
The broader security environment highlights the importance of strong measures and caution in all areas of official operations, including vehicle usage to communication practices.