An defense minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently examining the potential threats associated with Chinese cars, and personnel have been told to refrain from discussing classified information in all vehicles.
Security Guidance for Defence Personnel
During a recently aired appearance on LBC, a defence minister addressed reports that MoD officials have been instructed not to talk about secret material while travelling in China-made cars.
The minister stated that the ministry is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but emphasised that safety is a issue in every modern vehicles.
We have a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their car, not to have discussions at a secret level in any car, because of the increasing threats of eavesdropping that are present in every single vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. This is a wise and sensible thing for everyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested 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 moment.”
Broader Security Background
The revelation follows claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” action by government representatives.
The wider defence situation underscores the importance of robust measures and caution in every areas of official operations, including vehicle use to discussions practices.
