A defence minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, while personnel have been instructed to avoid discussing classified information in any cars.
Security Advice for Defence Personnel
During a recently aired interview on a radio station, a defence minister addressed claims that MoD officials have been told not to discuss secret material while travelling in China-made cars.
He explained that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however noted that security is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of cars 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 to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any vehicle, because of the increasing risks of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in secure locations. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using every cars from China, the minister replied: That is precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
This revelation follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow China to disable buses and bring disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been shining lasers at RAF pilots, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
The wider defence environment highlights the significance of strong measures and caution in all aspects of government activities, from transport usage to discussions practices.
