An defence minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the potential threats associated with Chinese cars, and staff have been told to avoid talking about secret matters in all vehicles.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
In a recent appearance on LBC, a defence minister addressed reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to talk about secret information while travelling in China-made vehicles.
He stated that the ministry is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however emphasised that security is a concern in all modern cars.
We have a fleet of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles account for a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a secret classification in any car, due to the growing risks of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to only have those secret talks in secure locations. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using every cars from China, Pollard replied: That is exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Defence Background
The revelation follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable public transport and bring disruption to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
The wider defence situation highlights the importance of robust protocols and caution in every areas of official activities, including transport usage to communication practices.
