An defense minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the possible threats associated with Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been advised to avoid talking about classified information in all vehicles.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
In a recent interview on LBC, a defence minister commented on claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to discuss secret information while riding in Chinese cars.
The minister explained that the ministry is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but stressed that safety is a concern in all contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a collection of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD devices into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a secret classification in any kind of car, because of the increasing threats of surveillance that exist in all automobile, to restrict those secret talks in secure locations. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using every cars from China, the minister responded: That is exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Defence Context
This announcement follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and cause chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship has been shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
This wider security environment highlights the importance of strong protocols and vigilance in all aspects of official operations, from transport use to communication practices.