A defense official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the possible threats posed by Chinese-made cars, and personnel have been instructed to refrain from talking about secret matters in any vehicles.
Security Guidance for Defence Staff
In a recently aired appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to discuss secret information while riding in Chinese vehicles.
The minister stated that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its fleets, but noted that security is a concern in all modern vehicles.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their car, to avoid having discussions at a secret classification in any vehicle, due to the growing risks of surveillance that are present in every single vehicle, to only have those confidential conversations in protected areas. This is a wise and sensible thing for everyone worried about security.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Broader Defence Background
The revelation follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off public transport and bring chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
The broader defence environment highlights the importance of robust protocols and caution in every areas of government activities, including vehicle use to discussions habits.
