A defence official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the potential threats associated with Chinese-made cars, and personnel have been instructed to refrain from talking about classified information in all vehicles.
Security Guidance for Defence Staff
In a recently aired interview on a radio station, a defence minister addressed reports that MoD officials have been instructed not to discuss classified material while riding in Chinese vehicles.
He stated that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however emphasised that security is a issue in all contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of cars 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 people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their car, to avoid having conversations at a classified classification in any kind of vehicle, due to the growing risks of surveillance that are present in every single automobile, to only have those secret talks in secure locations. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about safety.
When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using every Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: That is precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
This announcement follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off public transport and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship was reportedly directing laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
This wider security environment underscores the importance of robust measures and vigilance in all areas of official operations, including transport usage to discussions habits.
