A defence minister has revealed that the MoD is actively investigating the potential threats posed by Chinese cars, while staff have been told to avoid discussing classified matters in all vehicles.
Security Advice for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on reports that MoD staff have been told not to talk about classified material while travelling in China-made cars.
He said that the MoD is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but stressed that safety is a issue in every contemporary cars.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any car, due to the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to restrict those confidential talks in secure locations. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about safety.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using all cars from China, the minister responded: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
This revelation follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off public transport and bring chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
This broader security environment underscores the importance of strong measures and caution in every areas of official activities, including transport use to discussions practices.
