An defense official has revealed that the MoD is actively looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, and staff have been told to avoid talking about secret matters in all vehicles.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
During a recent appearance on LBC, a defence minister addressed reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to talk about classified material while riding in Chinese cars.
The minister explained that the MoD is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but stressed that safety is a concern in every contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
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, not to have discussions at a secret level in any kind of vehicle, because of the growing risks of surveillance that exist in all vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in secure locations. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using every cars from China, Pollard replied: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Defence Background
The revelation comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK 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 disruption to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship has been shining laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
This wider defence environment highlights the importance of robust measures and caution in every areas of government operations, including transport usage to communication habits.
