A defence official has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential threats associated with Chinese cars, while staff have been instructed to avoid talking about secret matters in all vehicles.
Safety Advice for MoD Staff
In a recently aired interview on a radio station, a defence minister commented on claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to discuss secret material while travelling in China-made cars.
The minister said that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its fleets, but noted that security is a concern in all contemporary cars.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a classified classification in any kind of vehicle, due to the growing risks of surveillance that exist in all automobile, to restrict those secret talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone worried about safety.
When it was put to him that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using all cars from China, the minister responded: That is precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Context
This revelation comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been shining lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
The wider defence situation underscores the importance of strong measures and vigilance in every areas of government operations, including vehicle use to communication habits.
