An defense minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the possible security risks posed by Chinese cars, and personnel have been advised to refrain from discussing classified matters in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
During a recent interview on a radio station, a defence minister commented on reports that MoD officials have been told not to discuss classified information while riding in China-made cars.
He explained that the ministry is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but noted that safety is a concern in every contemporary cars.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles account for a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD devices into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a secret level in any vehicle, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in every single automobile, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. That’s a wise and sensible thing for anyone concerned about safety.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using every cars from China, the minister responded: That is exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Broader Security Context
The announcement follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and cause disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
The broader defence environment highlights the importance of strong measures and vigilance in all aspects of government operations, from vehicle usage to communication habits.
