An defense minister has revealed that the MoD is actively investigating the potential threats associated with Chinese-made cars, while staff have been instructed to refrain from talking about classified information in all cars.
Security Guidance for Defence Personnel
During a recently aired interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on reports that MoD officials have been instructed not to talk about classified information while riding in Chinese cars.
The minister said that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its fleets, but emphasised that security is a concern in all contemporary cars.
Our department has a collection of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any car, because of the increasing threats of surveillance that exist in every single automobile, to restrict those secret talks in protected areas. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for anyone worried about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using every cars from China, Pollard responded: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Security Background
The announcement comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have warned the United Kingdom to the presence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
The wider defence situation underscores the significance of robust measures and caution in every aspects of government operations, including transport use to discussions habits.
