An defense minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the possible security risks associated with Chinese vehicles, and personnel have been told to avoid talking about secret information in all vehicles.
Security Advice for Defence Personnel
During a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to discuss classified material while riding in Chinese cars.
The minister stated that the ministry is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that safety is a issue in all modern vehicles.
We have a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
But whether you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their car, not to have discussions at a secret level in any kind of vehicle, due to the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all automobile, to restrict those confidential talks in protected areas. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using all Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Background
This announcement comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable buses and bring disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
The broader defence situation underscores the importance of strong measures and vigilance in every areas of government operations, including vehicle use to discussions habits.
