A defence minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is currently investigating the possible threats associated with Chinese cars, and personnel have been advised to refrain from talking about secret information in any vehicles.
Security Advice for MoD Staff
In a recent appearance on a radio station, a defence minister addressed reports that MoD staff have been told not to discuss classified material while riding in Chinese cars.
He explained that the MoD is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but stressed that safety is a concern in every modern vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a secret classification in any car, due to the growing risks of eavesdropping that exist in every single vehicle, to restrict those secret talks in secure locations. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
The revelation follows reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could enable China to disable public transport and bring disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
This broader defence situation highlights the importance of strong protocols and caution in all aspects of official activities, including transport usage to discussions practices.
