A defence minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the possible security risks posed by Chinese cars, and personnel have been instructed to avoid talking about secret information in all vehicles.
Safety Guidance for MoD Personnel
In a recent interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed claims that MoD staff have been told not to discuss classified information while riding in Chinese cars.
He said that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however emphasised that security is a concern in every modern cars.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD technology into their car, to avoid having discussions at a secret classification in any vehicle, due to the increasing threats of eavesdropping that exist in every single vehicle, to only have those confidential conversations in secure locations. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: That is precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Security Background
This announcement comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could enable China to switch off buses and bring disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel has been directing laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” action by government representatives.
The wider defence situation highlights the significance of robust protocols and caution in every areas of government activities, from transport usage to communication habits.
