A defense minister has stated that the MoD is currently looking into the potential threats posed by Chinese-made cars, and staff have been told to avoid discussing classified matters in all cars.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
In a recent appearance on a radio station, a defence minister commented on claims that MoD officials have been instructed not to talk about secret material while travelling in China-made vehicles.
The minister explained that the ministry is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but stressed that safety is a concern in all contemporary vehicles.
We have a fleet of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their car, to avoid having discussions at a classified classification in any kind of car, because of the increasing threats of surveillance that are present in all automobile, to only have those confidential conversations in secure locations. This is a wise and sensible thing for anyone concerned about security.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using every cars from China, the minister responded: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
This revelation follows claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off buses and cause disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship has been shining lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
The broader defence situation underscores the importance of robust measures and caution in every areas of government operations, from transport use to communication habits.
