A defense official has confirmed that the MoD is currently looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese-made cars, and staff have been told to refrain from talking about secret information in any cars.
Security Advice for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired interview on LBC, a defence minister commented on claims that MoD officials have been told not to talk about secret material while travelling in China-made vehicles.
He stated that the ministry is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but emphasised that safety is a issue in all contemporary cars.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their car, to avoid having conversations at a secret level in any car, due to the growing risks of eavesdropping that are present in all automobile, to restrict those secret conversations in secure locations. This is a wise and sensible thing for anyone worried about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using every cars from China, Pollard replied: That is precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Broader Security Background
The revelation follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could enable China to disable buses and cause disruption to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel has been shining lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
This wider security environment highlights the importance of strong measures and vigilance in every aspects of government activities, from vehicle usage to communication practices.
