A defense official has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently examining the potential security risks posed by Chinese cars, and staff have been told to avoid discussing secret matters in any cars.
Security Advice for Defence Personnel
In a recent interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed claims that MoD officials have been instructed not to talk about classified material while riding in Chinese cars.
He explained that the ministry is “examining” cars from China within its fleets, however noted that security is a concern in every contemporary cars.
Our department has a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles represent a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their car, to avoid having discussions at a secret classification in any vehicle, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all automobile, to restrict those confidential conversations in protected areas. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about safety.
When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using all cars from China, Pollard responded: That is precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Security Context
The announcement follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable China to switch off buses and bring disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel has been shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
The wider defence situation highlights the importance of robust measures and vigilance in every aspects of official activities, including transport usage to discussions practices.
