A defense official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, and personnel have been advised to refrain from discussing classified information in all cars.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
During a recent appearance on LBC, a defence minister addressed reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to discuss classified information while travelling in Chinese cars.
He explained that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but noted that security is a issue in every contemporary cars.
Our department has a collection of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a classified classification in any vehicle, because of the growing risks of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to only have those secret talks in secure locations. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for anyone worried about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using every cars from China, the minister responded: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Security Background
This announcement comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel has been shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
The broader security environment highlights the significance of strong measures and caution in every aspects of official activities, from vehicle usage to discussions habits.
