A defense official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the potential security risks posed by Chinese-made vehicles, and personnel have been advised to refrain from discussing classified matters in any vehicles.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to talk about classified material while travelling in China-made vehicles.
He stated that the MoD is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, however stressed that security is a issue in every modern cars.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
However whether you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD technology into their car, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any vehicle, due to the increasing threats of surveillance that are present in every single automobile, to restrict those confidential conversations in protected areas. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone worried about security.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using every Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Defence Background
The revelation follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could enable China to disable buses and cause disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been directing lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
The broader defence environment highlights the importance of robust protocols and caution in every areas of government operations, including vehicle usage to discussions habits.
