A defense minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the possible threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, while personnel have been told to refrain from discussing secret matters in any cars.
Safety Guidance for Defence Personnel
In a recent appearance on a radio station, a defence minister addressed claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to talk about secret material while riding in China-made vehicles.
He stated that the ministry is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that safety is a issue in every modern cars.
We have a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
However whether 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, not to have discussions at a secret classification in any kind of vehicle, due to the growing threats of eavesdropping that exist in every single vehicle, to restrict those confidential conversations in secure locations. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for anyone worried 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’s exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Security Background
This announcement follows claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow China to disable public transport and cause disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
This broader security environment underscores the significance of robust measures and vigilance in every aspects of government activities, including vehicle use to discussions practices.
