An defence official has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the possible threats associated with Chinese cars, and staff have been advised to refrain from talking about secret matters in any cars.
Security Advice for Defence Staff
In a recent appearance on LBC, a defence minister commented on reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to talk about secret information while travelling in China-made cars.
He said that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however stressed that security is a concern in all modern vehicles.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles account for a very small number.
However whether you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any kind of vehicle, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in every single vehicle, to only have those confidential talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using every Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Defence Context
The announcement follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly directing lasers at RAF aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
The broader defence environment underscores the significance of robust measures and vigilance in every aspects of government operations, from vehicle usage to discussions practices.
