A defense minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently examining the potential threats associated with Chinese-made cars, and staff have been told to refrain from discussing secret matters in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for Defence Personnel
In a recently aired interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed reports that MoD officials have been instructed not to discuss secret information while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
He stated that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its fleets, however noted that safety is a concern in all contemporary vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re driving 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, not to have discussions at a classified classification in any kind of car, due to the increasing threats of surveillance that exist in every single vehicle, to restrict those confidential conversations in protected areas. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using every Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Defence Context
This announcement follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could allow China to switch off public transport and cause disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at RAF pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
The broader security situation underscores the importance of robust protocols and caution in every aspects of government operations, including vehicle use to discussions practices.
