A defence minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been told to avoid talking about secret information in any cars.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
In a recently aired interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed reports that MoD staff have been instructed not to talk about classified material while travelling in China-made vehicles.
He said that the MoD is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that safety is a concern in all modern vehicles.
We have a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
But whether you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any car, because of the growing threats of surveillance that are present in all vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone worried about security.
When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using all Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Defence Context
This announcement comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and cause disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly directing lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
The broader defence situation highlights the significance of strong protocols and vigilance in all aspects of government activities, including vehicle usage to discussions habits.
