An defence official has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently examining the potential security risks posed by Chinese-made cars, while staff have been instructed to avoid talking about secret matters in any cars.
Security Advice for Defence Personnel
In a recent appearance on LBC, a defence minister commented on reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to talk about secret information while riding in China-made cars.
The minister stated that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its fleets, but stressed that security is a concern in all contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a collection of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their car, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any kind of car, due to the growing threats of surveillance that are present in all vehicle, to restrict those secret conversations in secure locations. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone worried about security.
When it was put to him that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using all cars from China, Pollard responded: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Context
The announcement follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the presence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel has been shining lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
The wider security situation underscores the significance of strong measures and caution in every aspects of official activities, including vehicle usage to communication habits.
