An defense official has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the potential security risks posed by Chinese-made vehicles, and personnel have been advised to refrain from discussing secret matters in all vehicles.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
During a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed reports that MoD officials have been instructed not to discuss secret information while travelling in Chinese cars.
The minister explained that the ministry is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but noted that safety is a concern in every modern vehicles.
We have a collection of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
However whether you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a secret classification in any vehicle, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to restrict those confidential talks in protected areas. That’s a wise and sensible thing for everyone concerned about security.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using every cars from China, the minister replied: That is precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Defence Background
This announcement follows claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow China to disable public transport and bring chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
This broader security environment highlights the importance of strong measures and caution in every aspects of official activities, including vehicle use to discussions practices.
