A defence minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the potential threats posed by Chinese cars, and staff have been told to avoid discussing secret information in all cars.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
During a recently aired interview on a radio station, a defence minister commented on claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to talk about secret material while riding in China-made cars.
The minister said that the ministry is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, however emphasised that security is a issue in every 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 driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a secret level in any car, due to the growing threats of surveillance that are present in every single automobile, to only have those secret talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using every cars from China, the minister replied: That is exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Defence Context
The announcement comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off public transport and bring chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel has been directing laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
The broader defence situation highlights the significance of robust protocols and caution in all areas of government operations, including vehicle use to communication habits.
