A defense minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential security risks posed by Chinese-made cars, and personnel have been advised to avoid discussing secret information in any vehicles.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
In a recent appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to talk about secret information while travelling in China-made vehicles.
He stated that the ministry is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but noted that security is a concern in all contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a collection of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their car, to avoid having discussions at a classified classification in any kind of vehicle, because of the increasing risks of surveillance that exist in all automobile, to only have those confidential conversations in secure locations. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using every cars from China, the minister replied: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Security Context
This announcement comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off public transport and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly directing laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
The wider defence situation underscores the importance of strong measures and vigilance in every aspects of official activities, including transport use to communication habits.
