An defense minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the potential security risks posed by Chinese-made cars, while personnel have been told to refrain from discussing secret matters in any cars.
Safety Advice for MoD Staff
In a recent interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed claims that MoD officials have been instructed not to talk about classified information while riding in China-made cars.
The minister stated that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its fleets, however stressed that safety is a issue in every contemporary cars.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a classified classification in any vehicle, because of the increasing threats of surveillance that are present in every single automobile, to only have those secret conversations in secure locations. This is a wise and reasonable thing for everyone worried about security.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using all cars from China, Pollard replied: That is exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Defence Context
The announcement comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable public transport and bring disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship has been directing laser beams at RAF aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
This wider security environment underscores the significance of strong measures and caution in every areas of government operations, from vehicle use to communication practices.
