A defense minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the potential threats associated with Chinese-made cars, and personnel have been advised to refrain from talking about secret information in any cars.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired interview on a radio station, a defence minister commented on reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to talk about secret material while riding in China-made cars.
The minister said that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its fleets, but noted that safety is a issue in every contemporary cars.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our staff is not to plug MoD devices into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a classified level in any kind of car, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in every single automobile, to restrict those confidential conversations in secure locations. 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 MoD to cease using every Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Security Context
This revelation follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off public transport and cause chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly directing laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” action by government representatives.
The wider defence environment underscores the significance of robust measures and caution in all aspects of official activities, including vehicle use to discussions practices.
