A defense minister has stated that the MoD is currently investigating the possible threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been told to avoid talking about secret information in all vehicles.
Security Guidance for Defence Personnel
During a recently aired appearance on LBC, a defence minister addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to discuss classified information while riding in Chinese cars.
He said that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its fleets, however noted that security is a concern in all modern cars.
Our department has a collection of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a classified classification in any car, because of the increasing threats of surveillance that exist in all automobile, to restrict those confidential talks in protected areas. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about security.
After it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using every Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Security Context
This announcement follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off buses and cause chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship has been shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
This broader security environment highlights the significance of strong measures and caution in all aspects of government operations, including transport usage to discussions practices.