An defence minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential security risks posed by Chinese cars, while personnel have been told to avoid discussing secret information in all vehicles.
Safety Advice for MoD Staff
In a recently aired appearance on a radio station, a defence minister addressed reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to discuss classified material while travelling in China-made cars.
The minister said that the ministry is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however noted that safety is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a collection of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their car, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any car, because of the increasing risks of eavesdropping that are present in all automobile, to restrict those confidential talks in protected areas. This is a wise and sensible thing for anyone concerned about safety.
After it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using every cars from China, the minister responded: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Broader Defence Context
The announcement follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off public transport and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly directing lasers at RAF aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
The broader defence situation underscores the importance of strong measures and vigilance in every areas of official activities, including vehicle usage to communication habits.
