An defence minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the potential security risks posed by Chinese cars, and personnel have been told to refrain from talking about secret information in any cars.
Security Advice for MoD Staff
During a recently aired appearance on LBC, a defence minister commented on reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to discuss secret information while travelling in China-made vehicles.
The minister said that the ministry is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that security is a issue in all contemporary vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
But whether you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD devices into their car, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any car, because of the increasing risks of surveillance that exist in every single automobile, to only have those secret conversations in secure locations. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for everyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: That is precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Broader Security Background
The announcement follows claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could allow China to disable public transport and bring disruption to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at RAF pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
This wider defence environment underscores the significance of robust protocols and vigilance in all aspects of government operations, including transport use to discussions habits.
