A defence minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently investigating the potential security risks associated with Chinese vehicles, and personnel have been advised to refrain from talking about secret matters in any vehicles.
Security Guidance for Defence Personnel
In a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to discuss secret information while travelling in Chinese cars.
He stated that the ministry is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that security is a concern in every contemporary cars.
Our department has a collection of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
But whether you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a classified level in any vehicle, due to the growing threats of eavesdropping that exist in every single automobile, to restrict those confidential conversations in protected areas. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using every Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
The revelation comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable public transport and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly shining lasers at RAF pilots, described as a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
This wider security situation highlights the significance of robust measures and caution in every areas of official activities, including transport usage to discussions practices.
