An defence minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the possible threats posed by Chinese cars, and personnel have been told to refrain from discussing secret information in any cars.
Security Guidance for Defence Staff
In a recently aired appearance on a radio station, a defence minister commented on reports that MoD staff have been told not to discuss classified material while travelling in China-made vehicles.
He said that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but noted that security is a concern in every modern cars.
We have a fleet of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any kind of car, due to the increasing risks of surveillance that exist in every single automobile, to only have those secret talks in secure locations. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using every cars from China, Pollard responded: That is exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
The revelation comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable China to switch off public transport and bring disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been shining laser beams at RAF pilots, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
The wider defence environment underscores the significance of strong measures and caution in every areas of official operations, including transport use to communication practices.
