A defense minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential threats posed by Chinese cars, while personnel have been instructed to refrain from talking about secret matters in all vehicles.
Security Advice for Defence Staff
In a recently aired appearance on LBC, a defence minister commented on claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to talk about secret information while riding in China-made vehicles.
The minister stated that the ministry is “investigating” cars from China within its fleets, however emphasised that security is a concern in all contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a collection of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their car, to avoid having discussions at a secret classification in any car, due to the increasing threats of surveillance that are present in every single automobile, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone worried about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using every Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
This revelation comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and cause chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel has been shining lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
The broader defence environment underscores the importance of strong measures and vigilance in every areas of official operations, including transport usage to discussions practices.
