An defence minister has revealed that the MoD is actively looking into the potential threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, and staff have been told to avoid talking about secret information in all vehicles.
Security Advice for Defence Staff
During a recently aired interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed reports that MoD officials have been instructed not to talk about classified information while travelling in China-made cars.
He stated that the ministry is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but stressed that security is a concern in every contemporary cars.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their car, not to have discussions at a classified level in any vehicle, due to the increasing risks of surveillance that exist in all automobile, to restrict those confidential talks in protected areas. This is a wise and reasonable thing for everyone worried about security.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using every cars from China, the minister replied: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
This revelation follows reports from Scandinavian countries have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese buses, which could allow China to disable public transport and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel has been shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
This wider security situation highlights the importance of strong measures and caution in every areas of government activities, including transport use to discussions habits.
