An defense official has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the possible threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been instructed to refrain from talking about classified matters in all vehicles.
Security Guidance for Defence Personnel
During a recent interview on a radio station, a defence minister addressed claims that MoD staff have been told not to talk about classified information while travelling in China-made cars.
The minister said that the ministry is “examining” cars from China within its fleets, however emphasised that safety is a issue in every modern vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a secret level in any kind of vehicle, due to the growing threats of surveillance that are present in all vehicle, to only have those confidential conversations in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: That is exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Defence Context
The announcement follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable public transport and cause disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship has been directing laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
The broader defence situation highlights the significance of robust measures and caution in every aspects of government operations, from vehicle usage to discussions practices.
