A defense minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the potential security risks associated with Chinese cars, and staff have been instructed to refrain from discussing classified information in any cars.
Security Advice for Defence Staff
In a recent interview on LBC, a defence minister commented on reports that MoD officials have been instructed not to talk about secret information while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
He stated that the MoD is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that safety is a concern in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a collection of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a secret level in any car, due to the increasing threats of eavesdropping that are present in every single vehicle, to restrict those secret conversations in secure locations. This is a wise and sensible thing for everyone worried about security.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: That is precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Defence Context
The announcement comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable China to switch off buses and cause chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel has been directing lasers at RAF aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
The wider defence environment highlights the significance of strong measures and caution in every aspects of official activities, including transport use to discussions practices.
