A defense minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the possible security risks associated with Chinese-made cars, and staff have been told to refrain from discussing classified information in any vehicles.
Security Guidance for Defence Staff
During a recent appearance on a radio station, a defence minister addressed reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to talk about secret information while riding in China-made cars.
He stated that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but noted that security is a concern in every contemporary cars.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a secret level in any vehicle, because of the growing threats of surveillance that are present in all automobile, to restrict those confidential talks in secure locations. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for everyone worried about security.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using all Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Broader Defence Background
The revelation follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
The wider defence environment highlights the importance of strong measures and caution in every areas of government activities, from transport use to communication practices.
