An defence minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential security risks posed by Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been advised to avoid talking about classified matters in any cars.
Safety Guidance for Defence Personnel
During a recently aired interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to talk about classified information while riding in China-made cars.
The minister explained that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but noted that security is a issue in every modern vehicles.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a very small number.
However whether you’re driving a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a secret level in any vehicle, because of the growing threats of surveillance that are present in all vehicle, to only have those secret talks in protected areas. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone worried about security.
When it was put to him that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using every cars from China, the minister replied: That is precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Defence Context
This revelation follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the presence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off buses and cause chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel has been directing laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
The wider defence situation underscores the importance of robust measures and vigilance in every areas of official operations, including vehicle usage to communication practices.
