Minister States Ministry of Defence Looking at Potential Threat from Vehicles from China, as Personnel Instructed to Refrain from Secret Talk in Vehicles.
A defence minister has stated that the MoD is currently looking into the potential threats associated with Chinese-made cars, and personnel have been advised to refrain from discussing secret information in all cars.
Security Advice for Defence Personnel
In a recently aired appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD staff have been told not to talk about secret information while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
The minister said that the ministry is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that security is a issue in every modern cars.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their car, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any kind of car, due to the growing risks of eavesdropping that exist in all vehicle, to restrict those confidential conversations in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using every cars from China, the minister responded: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Security Context
The revelation comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable buses and cause disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
The wider defence environment highlights the significance of robust measures and vigilance in every areas of official activities, including vehicle use to discussions practices.
