A defence official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently examining the possible security risks posed by Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been told to refrain from discussing classified matters in any vehicles.
Security Advice for MoD Staff
During a recent interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to discuss classified information while travelling in China-made cars.
He said that the MoD is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but stressed that safety is a issue in every contemporary cars.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any kind of vehicle, because of the increasing risks of eavesdropping that are present in all automobile, to restrict those confidential conversations in secure locations. That’s a wise and sensible thing for everyone worried about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Broader Security Context
This announcement comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could allow China to disable public transport and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
This wider defence situation highlights the importance of strong measures and caution in every areas of government operations, including transport usage to communication habits.
