A defense minister has revealed that the MoD is currently investigating the possible security risks associated with Chinese cars, while staff have been instructed to refrain from talking about classified information in all vehicles.
Safety Guidance for MoD Staff
In a recent interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to discuss classified material while riding in Chinese cars.
The minister stated that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that security is a issue in every contemporary cars.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a secret level in any kind of vehicle, due to the growing risks of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in secure locations. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for everyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using all cars from China, Pollard replied: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Security Context
This announcement follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring disruption to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at RAF aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
The broader security environment underscores the significance of strong protocols and vigilance in every areas of government activities, including transport usage to discussions practices.
