An defense minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential threats associated with Chinese cars, and staff have been advised to avoid talking about secret information in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for Defence Personnel
During a recent appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on reports that MoD officials have been instructed not to discuss classified material while travelling in China-made cars.
He explained that the MoD is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, however stressed that safety is a concern in all modern cars.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their car, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any car, due to the increasing risks of surveillance that are present in every single vehicle, to restrict those confidential talks in protected areas. This is a wise and reasonable thing for anyone worried about safety.
When it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using every Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Background
This announcement comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable public transport and bring disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
This wider security environment underscores the significance of robust measures and caution in every areas of official operations, from vehicle usage to discussions habits.
