An defense minister has stated that the MoD is currently investigating the possible security risks associated with Chinese cars, and personnel have been told to refrain from talking about classified matters in any cars.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
In a recently aired appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to talk about secret material while riding in China-made vehicles.
The minister explained that the ministry is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but noted that security is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
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 Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a classified classification in any car, due to the increasing risks of surveillance that exist in all automobile, to only have those secret conversations in secure locations. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using every Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Security Background
This revelation follows reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off buses and cause disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been directing lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
The wider defence situation underscores the importance of robust measures and vigilance in all areas of government operations, including transport use to communication practices.
