A defense minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently investigating the potential security risks posed by Chinese cars, and personnel have been told to refrain from talking about secret information in all cars.
Security Advice for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to talk about classified material while travelling in China-made vehicles.
He said that the ministry is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that safety is a concern in all contemporary cars.
Our department has a fleet 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 car from another country, our instruction to our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a classified level in any vehicle, because of the increasing risks of surveillance that exist 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 prudent for the ministry to cease using every cars from China, the minister responded: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Security Background
This revelation follows claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable buses and cause disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
This wider security environment highlights the significance of robust protocols and vigilance in every areas of government activities, including vehicle usage to discussions habits.
