An defense official has stated that the MoD is currently examining the potential threats associated with Chinese vehicles, while staff have been told to refrain from discussing secret information in any vehicles.
Security Advice for Defence Staff
In a recent interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to talk about secret material while riding in Chinese vehicles.
The minister said that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its fleets, but noted that safety is a issue in all contemporary cars.
Our department has a collection of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a classified classification in any car, due to the increasing threats of surveillance that are present in all vehicle, to only have those confidential conversations in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone worried about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Broader Defence Background
This announcement follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese electric buses, which could allow China to switch off buses and cause disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly directing lasers at RAF aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
The broader defence situation highlights the importance of robust protocols and vigilance in every aspects of government operations, including vehicle use to communication practices.
