An defense minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently investigating the possible threats posed by Chinese cars, and personnel have been advised to avoid discussing secret information in any cars.
Security Advice for Defence Staff
In a recently aired interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed reports that MoD officials have been told not to discuss secret material while riding in Chinese cars.
The minister said that the MoD is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but emphasised that security is a issue in every modern vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
However whether you’re driving a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their car, not to have discussions at a secret level in any car, due to the increasing risks of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. That’s a wise and sensible thing for anyone worried about security.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using every cars from China, the minister responded: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Broader Security Context
The announcement comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow China to switch off buses and cause disruption to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
The wider security situation underscores the importance of robust measures and caution in every areas of official operations, including vehicle usage to discussions practices.
