An defence official has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the possible threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, and personnel have been instructed to refrain from discussing classified matters in all cars.
Security Advice for Defence Staff
During a recent appearance on LBC, a defence minister addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to talk about secret information while riding in Chinese cars.
The minister stated that the MoD is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but emphasised that safety is a issue in all contemporary cars.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their car, not to have discussions at a secret classification in any car, due to the increasing threats of surveillance that are present in all automobile, to only have those confidential talks in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for everyone worried about security.
When it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
This revelation comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
The wider defence environment underscores the significance of strong measures and caution in all aspects of government activities, including transport usage to communication habits.
