A defense minister has confirmed that the MoD is currently looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese-made cars, and staff have been told to refrain from talking about classified information in all cars.
Security Advice for MoD Staff
In a recent interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to talk about classified material while travelling in Chinese cars.
He stated that the MoD is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, however stressed that safety is a issue in every modern vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their car, to avoid having discussions at a secret classification in any vehicle, because of the growing risks of eavesdropping that are present in all automobile, to restrict those confidential conversations in secure locations. This is a wise and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using every cars from China, the minister replied: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Broader Defence Background
The announcement follows claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable public transport and cause disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
The broader security environment underscores the importance of strong protocols and caution in all aspects of official activities, including transport use to communication habits.
