A defense minister has confirmed that the MoD is currently examining the potential threats associated with Chinese vehicles, and staff have been instructed to avoid discussing secret information in all vehicles.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
In a recently aired interview on LBC, a defence minister commented on reports that MoD staff have been told not to discuss classified material while riding in China-made cars.
The minister said that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its fleets, however emphasised that security is a concern in all contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a secret level in any kind of vehicle, because of the increasing risks of eavesdropping that exist in every single automobile, to only have those confidential conversations in protected areas. This is a wise and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about safety.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using all cars from China, Pollard replied: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Security Background
The revelation follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable public transport and bring chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel has been shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
The wider security environment underscores the importance of robust measures and vigilance in every aspects of official activities, including transport use to communication practices.
