An defence official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the possible security risks associated with Chinese cars, while staff have been told to avoid talking about classified information in any cars.
Security Advice for MoD Personnel
In a recent appearance on a radio station, a defence minister commented on reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to discuss secret information while travelling in China-made cars.
The minister said that the ministry is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but emphasised that safety is a concern in all modern cars.
We have a collection of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a classified classification in any car, due to the increasing threats of surveillance that exist in every single vehicle, to restrict those secret talks in secure locations. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about safety.
When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using all cars from China, Pollard replied: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
This revelation follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable China to disable public transport and bring chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
The wider security environment underscores the importance of robust measures and caution in every aspects of official activities, including transport use to communication habits.
