An defense official has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the potential threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, and staff have been instructed to refrain from talking about secret matters in any cars.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
In a recently aired appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to discuss classified information while travelling in China-made cars.
The minister said that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its fleets, however stressed that safety is a concern in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a collection of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their car, not to have discussions at a secret classification in any kind of vehicle, because of the growing threats of surveillance that exist in every single automobile, to restrict those confidential talks in secure locations. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using all cars from China, the minister responded: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Defence Background
This announcement comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable buses and bring disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” action by government representatives.
The wider defence environment highlights the significance of strong measures and vigilance in every aspects of official activities, from transport usage to discussions practices.
