An defence official has stated that the MoD is actively investigating the potential security risks posed by Chinese cars, and staff have been advised to refrain from discussing secret information in all cars.
Security Advice for MoD Staff
In a recent interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to talk about secret information while riding in China-made cars.
He said that the ministry is “investigating” cars from China within its fleets, however emphasised that safety is a issue in every contemporary cars.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD technology into their car, not to have conversations at a classified classification in any kind of vehicle, due to the increasing threats of surveillance that exist in all vehicle, to restrict those confidential talks in protected areas. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for everyone worried about security.
When it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using every cars from China, Pollard replied: That is exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
The revelation follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could enable China to disable buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining lasers at RAF aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
The wider defence environment underscores the importance of strong protocols and vigilance in every aspects of government activities, including transport use to discussions practices.
