A defence official has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the possible security risks posed by Chinese vehicles, while personnel have been instructed to refrain from talking about classified information in all cars.
Security Advice for Defence Staff
In a recent appearance on LBC, a defence minister addressed reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to talk about secret information while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
The minister explained that the ministry is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but emphasised that security is a issue in all modern cars.
We have a collection of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a very small number.
However whether you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their car, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any car, because of the growing risks of eavesdropping that are present in all automobile, to restrict those confidential conversations in protected areas. This is a prudent and sensible thing for everyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using all cars from China, the minister replied: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Background
The announcement follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly directing lasers at RAF aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
This wider defence environment underscores the significance of robust measures and caution in all aspects of official operations, including vehicle usage to discussions habits.
