An defence minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the possible security risks associated with Chinese vehicles, while personnel have been advised to refrain from discussing classified matters in all cars.
Safety Advice for Defence Staff
In a recent interview on a radio station, a defence minister commented on reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to talk about secret information while travelling in Chinese cars.
The minister said that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that security is a concern in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD devices into their car, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any kind of car, due to the growing risks of surveillance that are present in all automobile, to only have those confidential talks in protected areas. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using every Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Security Background
The revelation follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could enable China to switch off buses and cause disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship has been directing lasers at RAF aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
The wider security environment underscores the significance of strong measures and caution in all areas of official operations, from transport usage to communication practices.
