An defence minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential security risks associated with Chinese cars, while staff have been advised to refrain from discussing secret matters in all vehicles.
Safety Advice for Defence Staff
During a recently aired interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed claims that MoD officials have been told not to discuss secret information while travelling in China-made vehicles.
The minister said that the ministry is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however stressed that security is a concern in every modern cars.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
But 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 Ministry of Defence devices into their car, to avoid having discussions at a secret classification in any vehicle, because of the growing threats of surveillance that exist in every single vehicle, to restrict those secret conversations in protected areas. This is a wise and reasonable thing for anyone worried about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Defence Context
The announcement comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could enable China to disable buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship has been shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
The wider security situation highlights the importance of strong measures and vigilance in all aspects of official activities, including transport usage to communication habits.
