An defense minister has confirmed that the MoD is actively examining the possible threats associated with Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been told to refrain from talking about secret information in all vehicles.
Security Advice for Defence Staff
In a recently aired appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to discuss classified information while travelling in China-made vehicles.
The minister said that the MoD is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, however stressed that security is a concern in all contemporary vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their car, to avoid having discussions at a secret level in any kind of car, because of the increasing threats of surveillance that exist in every single vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in secure locations. This is a wise and sensible thing for everyone worried about security.
When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
This revelation follows claims from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow China to disable public transport and bring disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been directing laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
This wider security situation highlights the importance of strong measures and caution in every areas of official operations, including vehicle usage to communication habits.
