A defense minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is currently investigating the possible threats posed by Chinese cars, and staff have been advised to refrain from discussing classified information in all vehicles.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
In a recently aired appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on claims that MoD officials have been instructed not to talk about classified information while riding in Chinese vehicles.
The minister explained that the ministry is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but stressed that safety is a concern in every contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a classified classification in any car, because of the growing threats of surveillance that exist in all vehicle, to restrict those confidential talks in secure locations. That’s a wise and sensible thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using every Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Security Background
The revelation follows claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable buses and cause disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been shining lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
This wider security environment highlights the importance of robust measures and caution in every aspects of government activities, including vehicle usage to communication practices.
