Minister Confirms Ministry of Defence Investigating Security Risk from Chinese Cars, as Staff Told to Avoid Secret Talk in Cars.
A defence minister has revealed that the MoD is actively looking into the potential threats posed by Chinese cars, while staff have been advised to avoid talking about classified information in all vehicles.
Safety Guidance for MoD Staff
During a recently aired interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to talk about secret information while travelling in Chinese cars.
He stated that the ministry is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however noted that security is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a classified classification in any car, due to the growing threats of eavesdropping that exist in all vehicle, to restrict those secret conversations in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using all cars from China, the minister replied: That is exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Defence Background
This revelation follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable China to disable public transport and bring disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly directing lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” action by government representatives.
The wider defence situation highlights the importance of strong measures and caution in all aspects of official activities, from transport use to communication practices.
