A defense minister has stated that the MoD is actively looking into the possible threats associated with Chinese vehicles, and personnel have been told to refrain from talking about secret matters in any vehicles.
Safety Advice for Defence Staff
In a recent interview on a radio station, a defence minister commented on reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to talk about classified material while travelling in China-made vehicles.
The minister explained that the MoD is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that safety is a concern in every modern cars.
Our department has a fleet of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their car, to avoid having discussions at a secret classification in any kind of car, because of the increasing risks of eavesdropping that exist in every single automobile, to restrict those secret talks in secure locations. This is a wise and reasonable thing for anyone worried about security.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using every cars from China, Pollard replied: That is exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Broader Defence Background
This announcement follows reports from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off buses and cause disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship has been shining lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
This wider defence situation highlights the significance of strong measures and vigilance in every aspects of government operations, including vehicle usage to discussions practices.
