A defense official has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the possible threats associated with Chinese cars, while personnel have been instructed to refrain from discussing secret matters in any cars.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
During a recent appearance on LBC, a defence minister addressed reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to talk about classified material while riding in Chinese cars.
The minister explained that the MoD is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, however noted that security is a concern in every contemporary cars.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of cars 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 car from another country, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD devices into their car, not to have discussions at a secret classification in any vehicle, because of the growing risks of surveillance that are present in every single vehicle, to restrict those secret conversations in protected areas. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about safety.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using all cars from China, the minister replied: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Defence Background
The announcement follows claims from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow China to disable buses and cause disruption to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship has been shining lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
The wider defence situation highlights the importance of robust measures and caution in every aspects of government operations, from transport usage to discussions practices.
