A defense official has confirmed that the MoD is currently investigating the potential security risks posed by Chinese-made vehicles, and staff have been told to refrain from talking about secret information in all cars.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
In a recently aired interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on claims that MoD staff have been instructed not to discuss secret information while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
The minister stated that the MoD is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however emphasised that security is a concern in all modern vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any kind of vehicle, because of the increasing threats of eavesdropping that are present in every single vehicle, to restrict those confidential talks in secure locations. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using all cars from China, the minister replied: That is precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Defence Background
This announcement comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off public transport and bring chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
The wider defence situation underscores the significance of strong protocols and caution in all areas of official operations, including vehicle use to discussions practices.
