An defense minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the possible threats posed by Chinese cars, and staff have been advised to avoid talking about secret information in any cars.
Safety Guidance for MoD Personnel
During a recent appearance on LBC, a defence minister commented on claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to discuss secret material while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
He explained that the ministry is “examining” cars from China within its fleets, but emphasised that safety is a issue in all contemporary cars.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any kind of car, due to the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in every single vehicle, to only have those confidential talks in protected areas. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about safety.
When it was put to him that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: That is exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Background
This announcement follows reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable buses and cause chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
This broader security situation highlights the importance of robust measures and vigilance in every areas of official activities, from transport usage to communication practices.
