An defense official has stated that the MoD is actively looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, while personnel have been instructed to avoid discussing secret information in any vehicles.
Safety Advice for Defence Staff
During a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on reports that MoD staff have been told not to talk about secret information while riding in Chinese cars.
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 cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any vehicle, due to the increasing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all automobile, to restrict those confidential talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent 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 Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: That is exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Security Context
This announcement follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
The wider security situation highlights the significance of robust measures and vigilance in every areas of government operations, including transport use to discussions habits.
