An defence minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently investigating the potential threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, while personnel have been advised to refrain from discussing secret information in any vehicles.
Security Guidance for Defence Staff
In a recent interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed reports that MoD staff have been told not to talk about classified material while travelling in Chinese cars.
He stated that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that security is a concern in every contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug MoD technology into their car, to avoid having discussions at a classified classification in any kind of vehicle, because of the growing risks of eavesdropping that exist in all automobile, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for everyone worried about security.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using all cars from China, the minister replied: That is precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Context
This revelation follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable public transport and bring chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly directing laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
This wider defence situation underscores the importance of strong measures and vigilance in every areas of government operations, including vehicle use to communication practices.
