A defense official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese cars, while personnel have been instructed to avoid discussing classified information in any cars.
Security Advice for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to discuss secret material while travelling in China-made cars.
The minister said that the ministry is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however noted that security is a concern in every contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a collection of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their car, to avoid having discussions at a classified level in any kind of vehicle, due to the increasing risks of surveillance that exist in every single automobile, to only have those secret talks in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using all cars from China, Pollard responded: That is exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Defence Context
This announcement comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and cause chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly directing laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
This wider defence situation underscores the significance of strong protocols and caution in every areas of government activities, including transport usage to discussions practices.
