A defence minister has stated that the MoD is currently looking into the possible security risks associated with Chinese vehicles, while personnel have been told to refrain from talking about secret information in all vehicles.
Security Guidance for Defence Personnel
In a recently aired interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to talk about secret information while riding in Chinese cars.
He said that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but noted that safety is a concern in every contemporary cars.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug MoD devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any vehicle, due to the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all automobile, to restrict those secret conversations in protected areas. This is a wise and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using every Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Security Background
The announcement follows reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly directing lasers at RAF pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
The broader defence environment highlights the significance of strong measures and caution in every areas of government activities, including vehicle use to communication practices.
