An defense official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the possible threats associated with Chinese vehicles, while staff have been instructed to refrain from discussing classified matters in all vehicles.
Safety Guidance for MoD Staff
In a recently aired appearance on a radio station, a defence minister addressed claims that MoD staff have been instructed not to discuss secret information while travelling in Chinese cars.
The minister said that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its fleets, however noted that security is a concern in all modern vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles account for a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a classified classification in any vehicle, due to the increasing threats of eavesdropping that exist in all automobile, to only have those secret conversations in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using all cars from China, Pollard replied: That is precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Defence Context
This announcement comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable public transport and cause chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
This wider security environment highlights the importance of robust measures and vigilance in every aspects of official operations, including vehicle use to communication habits.
