A defense minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential threats posed by Chinese-made cars, and personnel have been told to refrain from talking about secret matters in any vehicles.
Security Advice for Defence Staff
During a recent interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD officials have been told not to discuss classified material while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
The minister stated that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its fleets, but emphasised that safety is a concern in every contemporary cars.
Our department has a collection of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD technology into their car, to avoid having discussions at a secret level in any kind of vehicle, because of the increasing risks of eavesdropping that are present in all automobile, to restrict those confidential talks in protected areas. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for everyone worried about security.
When it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using all cars from China, Pollard responded: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Security Background
The announcement follows reports from Scandinavian countries have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could enable China to disable buses and bring disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship has been shining laser beams at RAF pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
This wider security environment highlights the importance of robust measures and caution in every areas of government activities, from transport usage to communication practices.
