A defense official has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently investigating the potential threats associated with Chinese-made cars, and staff have been told to refrain from discussing secret information in all cars.
Safety Guidance for Defence Personnel
In a recently aired interview on a radio station, a defence minister commented on claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to discuss secret material while travelling in China-made cars.
He said that the ministry is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but stressed that security is a issue in every 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 whether you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any car, because of the increasing risks of surveillance that are present in all automobile, to only have those confidential conversations in protected areas. This is a wise and reasonable thing for everyone worried about security.
After it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using all cars from China, the minister replied: That is exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Security Background
This revelation follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly directing lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
The wider security situation highlights the importance of strong measures and caution in every areas of government activities, including vehicle usage to communication habits.
