An defence minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently examining the possible security risks posed by Chinese cars, and personnel have been told to refrain from discussing secret matters in all vehicles.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
In a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to talk about secret information while travelling in China-made cars.
The minister explained that the MoD is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, however stressed that security is a concern in every contemporary cars.
We have a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a classified classification in any car, because of the increasing risks of eavesdropping that are present in all automobile, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for everyone worried about security.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using every Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: That is precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Security Context
This revelation comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese buses, which could allow China to disable buses and cause chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly directing laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
The wider security situation underscores the significance of robust measures and vigilance in all aspects of government operations, including transport usage to communication practices.
