An defense minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the potential threats posed by Chinese-made cars, and personnel have been advised to refrain from discussing secret matters in any vehicles.
Security Advice for MoD Staff
During a recent appearance on a radio station, a defence minister addressed reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to discuss secret information while riding in China-made vehicles.
The minister said that the MoD is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but stressed that security is a concern in all modern vehicles.
We have a collection of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a secret level in any car, due to the growing risks of eavesdropping that are present in every single automobile, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Defence Context
The revelation follows claims from Scandinavian countries have warned the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable public transport and cause chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been directing lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
This wider security environment underscores the significance of robust measures and caution in all aspects of government operations, from vehicle usage to discussions practices.
