An defense minister has confirmed that the MoD is actively investigating the potential security risks posed by Chinese cars, and staff have been instructed to avoid talking about secret information in all cars.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
During a recently aired interview on a radio station, a defence minister commented on reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to discuss secret information while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
The minister stated that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however stressed that safety is a issue in all contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a collection of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
However 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 vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any vehicle, because of the increasing risks of surveillance that exist in every single vehicle, to restrict those confidential talks in protected areas. This is a wise and sensible thing for anyone worried about safety.
After 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 are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Defence Context
The announcement comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring disruption to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship has been shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
The wider defence situation underscores the significance of robust protocols and vigilance in all areas of official operations, from transport usage to communication habits.
