A defence minister has confirmed that the MoD is currently investigating the possible threats posed by Chinese vehicles, and personnel have been told to avoid talking about secret matters in all cars.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired interview on a radio station, a defence minister commented on reports that MoD officials have been instructed not to talk about classified material while riding in China-made vehicles.
He stated that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its fleets, but noted that safety is a issue in all contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles represent a very small number.
But whether you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any kind of car, due to the growing threats of surveillance that are present in every single vehicle, to only have those secret talks in protected areas. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone worried about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using every Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Context
The announcement follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable public transport and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship was reportedly directing laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
The wider defence environment underscores the significance of robust measures and caution in all areas of official operations, including transport usage to discussions practices.
