A defense minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential threats associated with Chinese vehicles, while personnel have been advised to refrain from talking about secret matters in all vehicles.
Safety Guidance for MoD Personnel
During a recent interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to talk about secret material while travelling in China-made cars.
He explained that the MoD is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however noted that security is a concern in all contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a classified level in any car, because of the growing risks of eavesdropping that exist in every single automobile, to only have those confidential conversations in secure locations. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about security.
When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using every cars from China, Pollard responded: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Broader Security Context
The revelation follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable public transport and cause chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel has been directing laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
This broader defence environment underscores the significance of robust measures and caution in all areas of official activities, including transport usage to discussions practices.
