An defence minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the potential security risks associated with Chinese cars, while staff have been told to avoid talking about classified information in any vehicles.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
In a recently aired appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on claims that MoD staff have been instructed not to discuss secret information while riding in China-made vehicles.
The minister said that the ministry is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however noted that safety is a concern in all modern cars.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their car, not to have discussions at a secret classification in any kind of vehicle, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that exist in every single automobile, to only have those confidential conversations in protected areas. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using every cars from China, the minister responded: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Defence Background
This announcement follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable China to disable public transport and cause chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel has been shining laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
The broader defence situation highlights the significance of robust measures and vigilance in every areas of government operations, from vehicle usage to communication practices.
