An defence minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the potential security risks associated with Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been advised to avoid discussing classified information in all vehicles.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
In a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to discuss secret information while riding in China-made vehicles.
The minister stated that the ministry is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however stressed that security is a concern in every modern vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their car, to avoid having discussions at a classified level in any car, because of the increasing threats of eavesdropping that exist in all automobile, to restrict those secret conversations in protected areas. This is a wise and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using all cars from China, the minister replied: That is precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Broader Defence Background
This announcement comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable public transport and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been shining lasers at RAF aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
The broader defence situation underscores the importance of strong measures and caution in all aspects of government activities, including transport usage to communication habits.
