An defense minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is currently investigating the possible security risks associated with Chinese vehicles, while staff have been told to refrain from discussing secret information in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for Defence Personnel
In a recent appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed reports that MoD officials have been instructed not to talk about classified information while travelling in China-made vehicles.
He explained that the ministry is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however noted that safety is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD devices into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any kind of car, due to the growing threats of eavesdropping that exist in every single vehicle, to restrict those confidential talks in protected areas. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
After 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 are looking into at the present time.”
Broader Security Background
The announcement follows claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and cause disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been shining laser beams at RAF pilots, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
This wider security environment underscores the importance of robust measures and caution in every aspects of official activities, from vehicle usage to discussions practices.
