An defense minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the potential threats posed by Chinese vehicles, and staff have been instructed to avoid discussing classified information in any vehicles.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
During a recent interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD officials have been told not to talk about classified information while travelling in China-made vehicles.
He stated that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however emphasised that security is a issue in every contemporary cars.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a secret classification in any kind of car, because of the growing risks of eavesdropping that exist in every single vehicle, to restrict those confidential talks in secure locations. That’s a wise and sensible thing for anyone worried about security.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using every Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Security Context
The announcement follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable public transport and cause disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel has been directing laser beams at RAF pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
This broader security environment underscores the importance of robust protocols and vigilance in every areas of government activities, including transport usage to discussions practices.
