Government Official States MoD Looking at Potential Threat from Vehicles from China, as Personnel Told to Avoid Confidential Discussions in Cars.
A defense minister has confirmed that the MoD is actively investigating the possible security risks posed by Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been told to avoid talking about secret information in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for MoD Personnel
During a recent interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed reports that MoD staff have been instructed not to discuss secret information while riding in Chinese cars.
The minister stated that the ministry is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, however noted that safety is a concern in every contemporary cars.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their car, to avoid having conversations at a classified classification in any kind of car, because of the increasing threats of eavesdropping that exist in all vehicle, to only have those confidential conversations in secure locations. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone worried about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using all cars from China, Pollard responded: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Security Context
This announcement follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could enable China to disable public transport and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly directing lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
The wider security environment highlights the significance of strong measures and caution in all areas of official operations, from transport usage to discussions practices.
