Government Official Says MoD Investigating Security Risk from Vehicles from China, as Staff Instructed to Refrain from Confidential Discussions in Cars.
A defence minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the possible security risks associated with Chinese-made vehicles, while personnel have been instructed to refrain from talking about secret information in all cars.
Safety Guidance for MoD Personnel
In a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to talk about secret information while riding in China-made cars.
He explained that the MoD is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however noted that safety is a concern in every contemporary cars.
Our department has a collection of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles represent a very small number.
However whether you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their car, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any kind of car, because of the growing risks of eavesdropping that exist in every single automobile, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. That’s a wise and sensible thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using every cars from China, the minister replied: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Context
The revelation comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and cause chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship has been shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
The broader defence situation highlights the importance of strong measures and vigilance in every aspects of official operations, including transport use to communication practices.
