A defense official has revealed that the MoD is actively examining the possible threats posed by Chinese-made cars, while personnel have been instructed to avoid talking about classified matters in any cars.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
In a recently aired appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to discuss secret information while travelling in China-made cars.
The minister said that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but noted that safety is a issue in all contemporary cars.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
However whether you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their car, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any kind of vehicle, due to the increasing risks of surveillance that exist in every single automobile, to only have those secret talks in secure locations. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using all cars from China, Pollard replied: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Defence Background
This revelation comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “extremely risky” action by government representatives.
The wider security situation underscores the significance of strong measures and caution in all areas of government activities, including vehicle use to communication practices.
