An defense minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the potential threats associated with Chinese vehicles, while staff have been told to avoid discussing classified matters in any cars.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
In a recent appearance on a radio station, a defence minister addressed reports that MoD officials have been instructed not to talk about classified information while riding in China-made vehicles.
The minister explained that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its fleets, but stressed that security is a issue in every modern vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD devices into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a classified classification in any kind of car, due to the increasing risks of eavesdropping that exist in every single vehicle, to restrict those secret conversations in protected areas. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about security.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: That is precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Security Context
The announcement follows reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel has been shining lasers at RAF aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
This broader security situation highlights the importance of strong protocols and caution in every aspects of government activities, including vehicle usage to communication practices.
