An defense minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the possible threats associated with Chinese cars, and personnel have been told to refrain from talking about classified information in any vehicles.
Security Guidance for MoD Personnel
In a recently aired interview on LBC, a defence minister commented on reports that MoD officials have been instructed not to discuss classified material while travelling in China-made vehicles.
He explained that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its fleets, but emphasised that safety is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their car, to avoid having discussions at a classified level in any kind of car, due to the increasing threats of surveillance that are present in all vehicle, to restrict those secret talks in protected areas. This is a wise and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about safety.
When it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using all cars from China, Pollard replied: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
This revelation follows claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could enable China to disable public transport and cause chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel has been directing lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
This wider security situation highlights the significance of strong measures and caution in every aspects of government activities, including vehicle use to discussions practices.
