Minister States Ministry of Defence Looking at Security Risk from Chinese Cars, with Personnel Instructed to Refrain from Confidential Discussions in Vehicles.
An defense official has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been instructed to refrain from discussing secret matters in all vehicles.
Safety Advice for MoD Staff
In a recently aired appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD staff have been instructed not to talk about classified information while travelling in China-made cars.
He stated that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however emphasised that safety is a concern in all contemporary cars.
Our department has a collection of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a classified classification in any vehicle, because of the increasing threats of surveillance that exist in every single automobile, to restrict those secret conversations in protected areas. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using all cars from China, the minister replied: That is precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Background
The announcement comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable public transport and bring disruption to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship was reportedly directing lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “extremely risky” action by government representatives.
The wider security situation underscores the importance of robust measures and caution in every areas of official activities, from transport usage to discussions habits.
