An defense minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the possible threats associated with Chinese cars, while staff have been instructed to avoid talking about secret matters in any vehicles.
Security Advice for Defence Staff
During a recent interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to discuss secret material while riding in Chinese vehicles.
The minister explained that the ministry is “investigating” cars from China within its fleets, but noted that security is a concern in every modern vehicles.
Our department has a collection of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
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 MoD technology into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a secret classification in any vehicle, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in every single vehicle, to restrict those secret talks in secure locations. This is a wise and sensible thing for anyone worried about safety.
After it was put to him that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using all Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Broader Security Background
The revelation comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship was reportedly directing laser beams at RAF aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
The broader security environment highlights the importance of robust measures and vigilance in every areas of official operations, including vehicle usage to communication practices.
