An defence official has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the possible threats posed by Chinese cars, while staff have been instructed to avoid discussing classified matters in all cars.
Security Advice for Defence Personnel
During a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to talk about secret material 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 issue in every contemporary cars.
Our department has a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
But whether you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their car, to avoid having discussions at a secret level in any vehicle, because of the growing risks of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in secure locations. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using every Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: That is precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
The revelation comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow China to disable public transport and cause chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly directing lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
This broader security situation highlights the significance of strong measures and vigilance in every areas of official operations, including vehicle usage to discussions practices.