An defense minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, and staff have been advised to refrain from talking about classified information in any cars.
Safety Guidance for MoD Staff
During a recent interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed reports that MoD officials have been told not to talk about secret material while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
He explained that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its fleets, however noted that safety is a concern in all contemporary cars.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a classified level in any car, due to the increasing risks of surveillance that exist in all vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. That’s a wise and sensible thing for anyone worried about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using every Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: That is precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Background
This announcement follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow China to disable buses and cause chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel has been shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
The broader defence situation highlights the significance of strong measures and caution in every aspects of government operations, from vehicle usage to communication habits.
