An defence official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential security risks posed by Chinese vehicles, while personnel have been told to refrain from discussing classified matters in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for Defence Personnel
During a recently aired appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed reports that MoD officials have been told not to discuss classified information while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
The minister explained that the ministry is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however stressed that security is a issue in every modern cars.
We have a fleet of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any kind of car, due to the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in every single vehicle, to restrict those secret talks in secure locations. That’s a wise and sensible thing for everyone worried about security.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using every cars from China, Pollard replied: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Security Background
This revelation follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable public transport and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
This wider defence situation underscores the importance of strong protocols and vigilance in every areas of official activities, including vehicle use to discussions habits.
