An defense official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese cars, while staff have been instructed to refrain from discussing classified matters in any cars.
Security Guidance for MoD Staff
During a recently aired appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to discuss secret information while travelling in Chinese cars.
The minister said that the MoD is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but noted that security is a issue in every modern cars.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret level in any vehicle, because of the growing risks of eavesdropping that are present in every single vehicle, to restrict those confidential talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using every cars from China, Pollard replied: That is precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Defence Background
The announcement follows reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly directing laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
This wider security situation underscores the importance of strong measures and caution in every aspects of official activities, from transport use to communication habits.
