An defence minister has revealed that the MoD is actively looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese cars, while personnel have been advised to refrain from discussing classified matters in any cars.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
During a recent appearance on LBC, a defence minister commented on claims that MoD officials have been told not to talk about secret information while riding in China-made cars.
He explained that the MoD is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but emphasised that security is a issue in all contemporary vehicles.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a secret level in any kind of vehicle, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that exist in every single vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in secure locations. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using all Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Defence Background
This revelation comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow China to switch off buses and cause chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship has been directing lasers at RAF aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
The wider security environment highlights the importance of robust measures and caution in every areas of government operations, including vehicle usage to communication practices.
