A defense official has stated that the MoD is currently looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese-made cars, and personnel have been advised to avoid talking about classified information in any cars.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
In a recent interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to discuss classified material while riding in Chinese cars.
The minister explained that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but noted that safety is a concern in every contemporary cars.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence 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 to avoid connecting MoD technology into their car, to avoid having conversations at a secret level in any vehicle, due to the growing threats of surveillance that are present in all automobile, to restrict those secret talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using all cars from China, the minister responded: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Security Context
This announcement comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have warned the United Kingdom to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could enable China to switch off public transport and bring chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel has been shining lasers at RAF aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
This wider security situation highlights the importance of robust protocols and caution in every aspects of government activities, from vehicle usage to communication practices.
