An defense minister has revealed that the MoD is actively investigating the potential threats associated with Chinese-made cars, while staff have been advised to avoid discussing secret information in any cars.
Safety Guidance for MoD Personnel
In a recent interview on LBC, a defence minister commented on reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to discuss secret material while riding in China-made vehicles.
The minister said that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however emphasised that security is a concern in all contemporary cars.
Our department has a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a very small number.
But whether you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a secret level in any vehicle, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to restrict those confidential conversations in protected areas. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Broader Defence Background
This announcement follows claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow China to switch off buses and bring disruption to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship has been shining lasers at RAF aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” action by government representatives.
The wider security situation underscores the importance of robust measures and caution in every aspects of government activities, including vehicle use to discussions practices.
