An defence official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the possible security risks posed by Chinese cars, while personnel have been instructed to refrain from talking about secret information in all vehicles.
Safety Advice for Defence Staff
In a recently aired appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD staff have been told not to talk about classified information while riding in China-made vehicles.
The minister stated that the ministry is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but noted that safety is a concern in all contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD devices into their car, to avoid having discussions at a classified level in any vehicle, because of the growing risks of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to only have those secret talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
After it was put to him that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using all cars from China, the minister replied: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Security Context
The announcement follows reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could allow China to disable buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly shining lasers at RAF pilots, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
This wider security environment underscores the significance of strong measures and vigilance in every aspects of government activities, including vehicle usage to discussions practices.
