A defense minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential threats associated with Chinese cars, while staff have been told to refrain from discussing secret matters in any vehicles.
Security Guidance for MoD Staff
In a recent interview on a radio station, a defence minister commented on reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to discuss secret material while travelling in China-made cars.
The minister stated that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its fleets, but emphasised that security is a concern in all contemporary cars.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their car, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any vehicle, due to the growing risks of surveillance that exist in all vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. This is a prudent and sensible thing for everyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using every cars from China, the minister responded: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Context
The revelation comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could enable China to disable buses and cause chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining lasers at RAF aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
The wider security situation underscores the importance of robust protocols and caution in all areas of official operations, including vehicle usage to discussions habits.
