A defence official has confirmed that the MoD is currently looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese cars, and personnel have been told to refrain from talking about secret information in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for MoD Staff
During a recently aired interview on a radio station, a defence minister commented on reports that MoD officials have been instructed not to discuss secret information while travelling in Chinese cars.
He stated that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its fleets, however stressed that safety is a issue in all contemporary cars.
We have a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their car, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any kind of vehicle, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to only have those confidential talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about safety.
When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using every cars from China, the minister responded: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Defence Context
The revelation comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable public transport and bring disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
The wider security environment highlights the significance of robust protocols and vigilance in all aspects of official operations, including vehicle usage to communication habits.
