A defense minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the potential threats posed by Chinese vehicles, and staff have been instructed to refrain from talking about secret matters in any cars.
Safety Guidance for MoD Personnel
In a recently aired appearance on LBC, a defence minister commented on reports that MoD staff have been instructed not to discuss secret information while travelling in China-made cars.
He explained that the ministry is “examining” cars from China within its fleets, but emphasised that safety is a issue in every modern cars.
Our department has a collection of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their car, to avoid having discussions at a classified level in any car, due to the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to restrict those confidential conversations in secure locations. This is a wise and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using all Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: That is exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
This revelation comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese electric buses, which could allow China to disable public transport and cause chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
This broader defence environment highlights the significance of robust measures and vigilance in every areas of official operations, including vehicle use to discussions habits.
