An defense minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the potential threats posed by Chinese cars, while personnel have been advised to avoid discussing secret matters in any vehicles.
Security Advice for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to talk about secret information while travelling in China-made vehicles.
The minister explained that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its fleets, however stressed that safety is a concern in every contemporary cars.
Our department has a collection of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their car, not to have discussions at a classified classification in any kind of vehicle, due to the increasing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to only have those confidential talks 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 wise for the ministry to stop using all cars from China, the minister responded: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Broader Defence Context
This announcement comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow China to disable buses and cause disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship was reportedly directing lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
The wider defence situation underscores the significance of strong measures and caution in every aspects of official operations, including vehicle usage to communication practices.
