An defence official has stated that the MoD is currently examining the potential threats posed by Chinese-made cars, while staff have been told to avoid discussing secret information in any vehicles.
Safety Advice for Defence Staff
In a recent appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to discuss secret material while riding in Chinese cars.
He stated that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its fleets, however stressed that safety is a concern in every contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any car, due to the growing risks of surveillance that exist in every single automobile, to only have those confidential conversations in secure locations. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using every Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
The announcement comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese electric buses, which could allow China to disable buses and bring disruption to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship was reportedly directing lasers at RAF aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” action by government representatives.
The wider defence situation underscores the significance of robust measures and caution in every areas of government operations, including vehicle usage to communication practices.
