A defence minister has revealed that the MoD is currently looking into the possible security risks associated with Chinese-made cars, while staff have been told to refrain from talking about secret matters in any vehicles.
Security Advice for MoD Personnel
During a recent interview on LBC, a defence minister commented on claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to talk about classified information while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
The minister said that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however emphasised that security is a concern in every contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a collection of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles account for a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a secret level in any vehicle, due to the increasing threats of eavesdropping that are present in every single vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. This is a prudent and sensible thing for everyone worried about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using all Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
This revelation comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable public transport and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at RAF pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
The broader security environment highlights the importance of robust measures and vigilance in all areas of government activities, including transport use to communication practices.
