Minister Confirms Ministry of Defence Looking at Potential Threat from Vehicles from China, with Personnel Told to Refrain from Confidential Discussions in Cars.
A defense minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is currently investigating the potential security risks posed by Chinese cars, and staff have been advised to avoid discussing secret information in all vehicles.
Security Advice for MoD Personnel
In a recently aired appearance on LBC, a defence minister addressed reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to talk about classified information while travelling in Chinese cars.
He said that the ministry is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but stressed that safety is a concern in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a collection of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a secret level in any kind of car, due to the increasing risks of surveillance that are present in every single automobile, to restrict those confidential conversations in secure locations. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was put to him that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: That is precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
This revelation follows claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could enable China to disable public transport and bring disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been shining laser beams at RAF pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
The wider defence situation highlights the significance of robust measures and caution in all areas of government operations, including vehicle use to communication habits.