An defense minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently investigating the potential threats associated with Chinese-made vehicles, and staff have been instructed to avoid discussing secret matters in any cars.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
In a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to discuss secret material while riding in China-made vehicles.
The minister stated that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however stressed that security is a issue in every modern cars.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD devices into their car, not to have discussions at a classified level in any car, due to the increasing risks of surveillance that exist in every single vehicle, to restrict those secret conversations in secure locations. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using all Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: That is precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Security Background
The revelation follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the presence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could enable China to disable public transport and bring disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship was reportedly directing laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
The broader security environment underscores the significance of robust protocols and vigilance in every areas of government activities, including vehicle usage to discussions habits.
