A defence minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the possible security risks associated with Chinese-made cars, and staff have been told to refrain from talking about secret matters in any cars.
Safety Guidance for Defence Personnel
In a recently aired appearance on a radio station, a defence minister addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to talk about secret material while travelling in China-made cars.
He said that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its fleets, however stressed that safety is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their car, not to have conversations at a classified level in any kind of vehicle, due to the growing threats of surveillance that exist in all automobile, to only have those secret talks in protected areas. This is a wise and reasonable thing for everyone worried about safety.
After it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using all cars from China, Pollard replied: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
This revelation comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
The wider defence situation highlights the importance of robust measures and caution in all areas of official activities, including transport usage to communication practices.
