An defence minister has stated that the MoD is currently investigating the possible threats associated with Chinese-made cars, and personnel have been advised to refrain from talking about secret matters in any cars.
Safety Guidance for MoD Staff
In a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD staff have been told not to talk about classified material while travelling in China-made cars.
The minister said that the ministry is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, however stressed that security is a issue in every contemporary cars.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles represent a very small number.
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 Ministry of Defence devices into their car, not to have conversations at a classified classification in any vehicle, because of the increasing risks of eavesdropping that exist in every single vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone worried about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Context
The revelation follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable buses and bring disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been shining lasers at RAF pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
The broader defence environment underscores the importance of strong protocols and caution in every aspects of government activities, including transport use to communication practices.
