A defence minister has confirmed that the MoD is actively examining the possible threats posed by Chinese-made cars, while staff have been told to refrain from discussing secret information in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed claims that MoD officials have been instructed not to talk about classified information while riding in Chinese cars.
He stated that the ministry is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, however noted that security is a issue in every modern vehicles.
We have a fleet of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD technology into their car, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any vehicle, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that exist in all vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about security.
After it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Security Context
The announcement follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable China to disable buses and cause chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
The wider security situation highlights the importance of robust measures and vigilance in all areas of government activities, including transport usage to communication practices.
