A defence minister has revealed that the MoD is actively examining the possible security risks associated with Chinese vehicles, and staff have been instructed to refrain from talking about secret information in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for MoD Personnel
In a recent interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on reports that MoD staff have been told not to talk about secret information while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
The minister stated that the ministry is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but noted that safety is a issue in all contemporary vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our people is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret level in any kind of car, due to the increasing risks of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to restrict those confidential conversations in protected areas. This is a wise and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Defence Context
This revelation follows 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 the Chinese government to disable buses and cause disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel has been shining lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
The broader security situation underscores the significance of strong measures and caution in every areas of official activities, including vehicle usage to discussions practices.
