An defence minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential security risks posed by Chinese cars, while personnel have been advised to avoid discussing classified matters in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
In a recently aired interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed reports that MoD officials have been told not to talk about classified information while riding in China-made vehicles.
The minister stated that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its fleets, but stressed that security is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
But 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 car, not to have discussions at a classified level in any car, due to the increasing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to only have those secret talks in secure locations. That’s a wise and sensible thing for anyone worried about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
This revelation follows reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could allow China to switch off buses and bring disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining lasers at RAF pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
This wider security environment highlights the significance of robust protocols and caution in all aspects of official operations, including vehicle use to communication habits.
