A defence minister has stated that the MoD is currently looking into the potential threats associated with Chinese vehicles, while personnel have been advised to avoid talking about secret matters in any vehicles.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to discuss secret information while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
He said that the MoD is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that security is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their car, not to have discussions at a secret classification in any kind of vehicle, because of the increasing risks of eavesdropping that are present in all automobile, to restrict those secret conversations in secure locations. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for anyone worried about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using every cars from China, Pollard replied: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Security Background
The announcement comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese electric buses, which could allow China to switch off buses and cause disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship has been shining lasers at RAF aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
The broader defence environment underscores the significance of strong protocols and vigilance in all aspects of government activities, including vehicle usage to communication practices.
