A defense official has revealed that the MoD is actively investigating the potential threats posed by Chinese vehicles, and personnel have been advised to avoid talking about classified information in all cars.
Safety Guidance for Defence Personnel
In a recently aired appearance on a radio station, a defence minister addressed reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to talk about secret information while riding in China-made cars.
He said that the MoD is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but noted that security is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles account for a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their car, to avoid having conversations at a classified classification in any car, due to the increasing risks of eavesdropping that exist in all vehicle, to only have those confidential conversations in secure locations. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for anyone worried about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using every Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Security Context
This announcement comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
The broader security environment highlights the importance of strong protocols and caution in every areas of government operations, including transport use to discussions habits.
