A defense official has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the potential security risks posed by Chinese vehicles, and personnel have been told to refrain from discussing secret information in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for MoD Staff
In a recent appearance on a radio station, a defence minister addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to discuss classified material while travelling in Chinese cars.
He said that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however stressed that security is a concern in all contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
However whether you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a secret classification in any kind of car, due to the increasing risks of surveillance that are present in all vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for anyone worried about security.
When it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: That is exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Broader Security Background
The revelation follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable public transport and bring chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly directing lasers at RAF aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” action by government representatives.
This wider defence situation underscores the significance of strong measures and caution in all areas of official activities, including transport use to communication practices.
