A defence official has revealed that the MoD is actively looking into the potential threats posed by Chinese cars, while staff have been instructed to avoid discussing secret matters in all vehicles.
Security Advice for MoD Personnel
During a recent appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on reports that MoD officials have been instructed not to talk about secret material while travelling in Chinese cars.
He stated that the MoD is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but emphasised that safety is a issue in all modern vehicles.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their car, not to have discussions at a classified level in any vehicle, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in every single vehicle, to restrict those secret talks in protected areas. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using every cars from China, the minister responded: That is precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
This announcement comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining lasers at RAF pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
The wider defence environment highlights the importance of strong protocols and caution in every areas of government activities, including transport use to communication practices.
