A defense minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently examining the possible security risks associated with Chinese cars, and personnel have been told to avoid discussing classified information in any vehicles.
Security Advice for Defence Staff
In a recent interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to talk about secret material while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
He explained that the MoD is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that safety is a concern in every contemporary cars.
Our department has a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones 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 not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their car, not to have conversations at a secret level in any car, because of the increasing threats of eavesdropping that exist in all vehicle, to only have those secret talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about safety.
When it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using all Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: That is precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
The announcement follows claims from Scandinavian countries have warned the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off public transport and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been shining laser beams at RAF pilots, described as a “extremely risky” action by government representatives.
This wider defence environment highlights the importance of strong measures and caution in every areas of official operations, including transport usage to discussions habits.
