A defense minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently investigating the potential threats posed by Chinese vehicles, while personnel have been instructed to avoid discussing secret matters in all cars.
Security Advice for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to talk about classified information while riding in China-made cars.
He explained that the MoD is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however noted that safety is a issue in all contemporary vehicles.
We have a fleet of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles account for 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 to avoid connecting MoD devices into their car, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any kind of car, because of the increasing threats of surveillance that exist in all automobile, to only have those secret talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about security.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using all cars from China, Pollard responded: That is precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Broader Security Background
The announcement comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the presence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow China to disable buses and bring disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
This wider defence situation underscores the importance of robust protocols and vigilance in every areas of official operations, including vehicle use to communication practices.
