An defence minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the possible threats posed by Chinese cars, while personnel have been instructed to avoid talking about classified matters in any cars.
Safety Guidance for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired appearance on LBC, a defence minister addressed claims that MoD officials have been told not to talk about classified material while travelling in China-made cars.
He stated that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however emphasised that security is a concern in all modern vehicles.
We have a collection of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a classified classification in any kind of car, because of the increasing risks of eavesdropping that are present in every single automobile, to restrict those confidential conversations in secure locations. That’s a wise and sensible thing for everyone concerned about safety.
When it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using all cars from China, Pollard responded: 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 United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow China to disable public transport and cause chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
This wider security environment highlights the importance of strong protocols and vigilance in all areas of government activities, including transport usage to communication practices.
