A defense minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the potential threats posed by Chinese vehicles, and staff have been told to avoid discussing secret matters in all cars.
Safety Guidance for Defence Personnel
In a recently aired appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to discuss secret material while riding in China-made cars.
The minister said that the ministry is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but stressed that security is a issue in every modern vehicles.
We have a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
But whether you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any car, because of the increasing threats of eavesdropping that exist in all vehicle, to restrict those secret talks in protected areas. This is a prudent and sensible thing for everyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using all cars from China, the minister replied: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Security Context
This announcement follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could enable China to switch off buses and cause chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship has been shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” action by government representatives.
The wider security environment highlights the significance of robust protocols and vigilance in all aspects of government operations, including transport use to communication habits.
