An defence official has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently examining the potential threats posed by Chinese vehicles, while personnel have been told to refrain from discussing secret information in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired appearance on a radio station, a defence minister addressed reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to talk about secret material while riding in China-made cars.
He stated that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however noted that safety is a concern in every contemporary cars.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug MoD devices into their car, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any kind of vehicle, because of the growing risks of surveillance that are present in all vehicle, to restrict those secret conversations in secure locations. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using every Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: That is exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Background
The revelation comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable buses and bring disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship has been directing lasers at RAF pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
This broader defence situation highlights the importance of strong measures and vigilance in all aspects of official activities, including vehicle use to discussions practices.
