An defense official has confirmed that the MoD is currently looking into the possible threats associated with Chinese-made cars, and personnel have been told to avoid talking about classified information in all cars.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
During a recently aired appearance on a radio station, a defence minister addressed reports that MoD staff have been instructed not to talk about classified information while riding in China-made cars.
He said that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its fleets, however stressed that security is a issue in every contemporary cars.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
But whether you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a classified level in any kind of vehicle, due to the increasing risks of surveillance that are present in all vehicle, to only have those secret talks in secure locations. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for everyone worried about security.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using every cars from China, the minister responded: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Defence Context
This announcement follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could enable China to disable public transport and cause chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship has been shining laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
This broader defence environment underscores the importance of strong protocols and caution in every aspects of official activities, including vehicle usage to discussions habits.
