An defence official has stated that the MoD is currently investigating the potential threats associated with Chinese vehicles, and staff have been told to refrain from talking about classified matters in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
In a recent interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD officials have been instructed not to talk about secret material while travelling in China-made cars.
The minister explained that the ministry is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but stressed that security is a issue in every modern vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our people is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their car, to avoid having conversations at a classified classification in any car, because of the increasing risks of surveillance that exist in every single vehicle, to only have those confidential conversations in protected areas. That’s a wise and sensible thing for anyone concerned about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using all cars from China, the minister replied: That is precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
The announcement comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off public transport and bring disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining lasers at RAF pilots, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
This wider defence situation highlights the importance of robust measures and vigilance in every aspects of government activities, including transport usage to communication practices.
