A defense official has confirmed that the MoD is currently examining the possible security risks associated with Chinese vehicles, and personnel have been told to refrain from talking about secret matters in all vehicles.
Safety Guidance for Defence Personnel
During a recent interview on a radio station, a defence minister commented on claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to talk about secret information while travelling in Chinese cars.
He explained that the MoD is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that security is a concern in every contemporary cars.
Our department has a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their car, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any car, because of the growing risks of surveillance that are present in all automobile, to only have those secret talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using every Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Broader Security Context
This revelation follows claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable buses and cause disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
The broader security environment underscores the significance of strong protocols and caution in every areas of official operations, including transport usage to discussions practices.
