An defence minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the potential security risks posed by Chinese-made vehicles, and staff have been told to avoid talking about classified matters in all vehicles.
Security Advice for Defence Staff
During a recent appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on reports that MoD staff have been instructed not to talk about secret information while riding in Chinese cars.
He stated that the ministry is “examining” cars from China within its fleets, however emphasised that safety is a issue in every modern vehicles.
We have a collection of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles account for a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a classified level in any car, due to the growing risks of surveillance that exist in all automobile, to only have those confidential conversations in protected areas. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using all cars from China, the minister replied: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Defence Background
The announcement follows claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could enable China to disable buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel has been shining lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
This broader security situation highlights the significance of robust protocols and caution in every areas of government operations, including transport use to communication practices.
