An defence official has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the possible security risks associated with Chinese-made cars, and personnel have been told to refrain from talking about secret matters in any vehicles.
Safety Advice for MoD Staff
During a recent appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to discuss secret material while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
The minister stated that the ministry is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however noted that security is a issue in all contemporary cars.
We have a collection of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their car, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any kind of vehicle, because of the increasing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all automobile, to only have those secret conversations in secure locations. This is a wise and sensible thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using all cars from China, Pollard replied: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Defence Background
The announcement follows claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could allow China to disable public transport and cause chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly directing lasers at RAF aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
This broader security environment highlights the importance of strong measures and caution in all aspects of government activities, including transport usage to communication habits.
