An defence official has revealed that the MoD is actively examining the possible threats associated with Chinese cars, while staff have been told to avoid talking about classified matters in all vehicles.
Safety Guidance for MoD Staff
In a recently aired interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to discuss classified material while riding in Chinese cars.
He stated that the MoD is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, however noted that safety is a issue in all contemporary cars.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their car, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any car, because of the growing threats of surveillance that exist in every single automobile, to only have those confidential talks in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for everyone concerned about safety.
After it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using all cars from China, the minister replied: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Security Context
This announcement follows reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable public transport and bring disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
The wider defence situation highlights the importance of robust measures and vigilance in every areas of government operations, including transport usage to discussions habits.
