An defense official has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the possible security risks posed by Chinese cars, while personnel have been advised to avoid discussing classified information in any cars.
Safety Advice for Defence Staff
In a recently aired appearance on LBC, a defence minister addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to talk about classified material while travelling in China-made cars.
He stated that the MoD is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but noted that safety is a concern in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones 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 staff is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a secret level in any kind of vehicle, due to the increasing threats of eavesdropping that exist in all vehicle, to restrict those confidential conversations in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using all cars from China, the minister replied: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Security Context
The revelation comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable public transport and cause disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel has been shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
This broader defence environment underscores the importance of strong measures and caution in all aspects of government operations, including transport use to communication practices.
