An defense official has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the possible security risks associated with Chinese cars, and staff have been advised to avoid talking about classified matters in all cars.
Security Guidance for Defence Staff
During a recent interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD officials have been instructed not to talk about classified information while travelling in China-made vehicles.
He explained that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but noted that safety is a issue in all contemporary cars.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for 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 to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a secret level in any kind of vehicle, because of the growing risks of eavesdropping that exist in all automobile, to only have those confidential conversations in protected areas. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was put to him that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using every cars from China, Pollard replied: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
The revelation comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable public transport and cause disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been directing lasers at RAF aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
The wider security situation underscores the significance of robust measures and vigilance in every aspects of official operations, including vehicle usage to communication practices.
