An defense minister has confirmed that the MoD is actively looking into the possible security risks associated with Chinese cars, while staff have been instructed to refrain from talking about classified matters in all cars.
Security Advice for Defence Staff
In a recently aired appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD staff have been instructed not to talk about secret information while travelling in China-made cars.
He explained that the MoD is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, however emphasised that security is a issue in every modern vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their car, not to have conversations at a secret level in any car, due to the growing risks of eavesdropping that are present in every single vehicle, to only have those confidential talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Defence Background
The revelation follows claims from Scandinavian countries have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable public transport and bring disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship has been directing laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
The wider defence situation highlights the importance of robust protocols and caution in every areas of government operations, from vehicle usage to discussions habits.
