An defence official has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the possible security risks associated with Chinese vehicles, and personnel have been advised to avoid talking about secret information in any cars.
Security Guidance for MoD Personnel
In a recent interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed claims that MoD staff have been told not to discuss secret information while riding in Chinese cars.
He explained that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however emphasised that safety is a issue in every modern vehicles.
Our department has a collection of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a classified classification in any vehicle, due to the growing risks of eavesdropping that exist in all vehicle, to only have those confidential talks in secure locations. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about safety.
After it was put to him that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using all cars from China, the minister replied: That is precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
The revelation follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow China to disable buses and cause disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship has been directing lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
The wider security environment highlights the importance of robust protocols and caution in all aspects of government activities, including vehicle usage to discussions habits.
