A defence minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently investigating the possible threats posed by Chinese cars, and staff have been advised to avoid talking about secret information in any vehicles.
Security Advice for Defence Staff
During a recently aired appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to talk about classified information while travelling in China-made cars.
He said that the MoD is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however emphasised that safety is a issue in all contemporary cars.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of cars 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, what we’ve asked our staff is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a classified classification in any kind of car, because of the growing risks of eavesdropping that are present in every single vehicle, to only have those secret talks in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: That is exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
The revelation comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could enable China to disable public transport and bring disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship has been directing laser beams at RAF aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
The wider security situation underscores the significance of robust measures and vigilance in every areas of official activities, including transport use to discussions habits.
