An defense minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the potential threats associated with Chinese cars, and personnel have been told to avoid talking about secret information in any cars.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
In a recent interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD staff have been told not to discuss secret material while riding in China-made vehicles.
He explained that the ministry is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but noted that safety is a concern in all modern cars.
Our department has a collection of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a secret level in any kind of car, due to the increasing risks of surveillance that exist in all vehicle, to only have those confidential conversations in protected areas. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: That is precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
The announcement comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese buses, which could enable China to disable buses and cause chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at RAF pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
This wider security environment highlights the significance of robust measures and vigilance in every areas of official activities, including vehicle usage to communication practices.
