An defense minister has confirmed that the MoD is currently examining the potential security risks associated with Chinese cars, while staff have been told to avoid talking about classified matters in all cars.
Safety Advice for MoD Staff
During a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed reports that MoD staff have been instructed not to discuss classified material while travelling in China-made vehicles.
He said that the ministry is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, however stressed that safety is a issue in all contemporary cars.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD devices into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a secret classification in any car, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in every single automobile, to restrict those secret talks in secure locations. This is a wise and reasonable thing for anyone worried about safety.
After it was put to him that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Defence Background
This revelation comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable public transport and cause chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
The wider defence environment underscores the importance of robust measures and caution in every aspects of official operations, including vehicle use to communication habits.
