An defence minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the possible threats posed by Chinese cars, and staff have been instructed to refrain from discussing classified matters in all vehicles.
Safety Advice for MoD Staff
In a recently aired appearance on LBC, a defence minister commented on reports that MoD staff have been told not to talk about classified material while riding in China-made cars.
He said that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but noted that security is a concern in every modern cars.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their car, to avoid having discussions at a secret level in any kind of vehicle, due to the increasing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all automobile, to restrict those confidential conversations in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: That is precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Security Context
This announcement comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable public transport and cause chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel has been directing lasers at RAF aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
The wider defence environment underscores the importance of robust measures and caution in every areas of government activities, including vehicle use to discussions habits.
