A defense minister has stated that the MoD is currently looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese cars, while staff have been instructed to avoid talking about classified matters in any cars.
Safety Guidance for MoD Staff
During a recently aired interview on LBC, a defence minister commented on reports that MoD officials have been told not to talk about secret information while travelling in China-made cars.
He explained that the ministry is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however noted that security is a issue in all modern vehicles.
Our department has a collection of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their car, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any car, due to the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all automobile, to restrict those confidential conversations in protected areas. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using every cars from China, Pollard replied: That is precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Security Background
This revelation follows reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could allow China to switch off public transport and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” action by government representatives.
This wider security situation underscores the importance of robust measures and caution in all areas of official operations, including transport usage to discussions practices.
