An defense minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently investigating the possible threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been told to refrain from discussing classified information in all cars.
Security Guidance for Defence Staff
During a recently aired interview on LBC, a defence minister commented on claims that MoD officials have been instructed not to talk about classified information while riding in Chinese vehicles.
He explained that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its fleets, but emphasised that safety is a issue in every contemporary cars.
Our department has a collection of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret level in any vehicle, due to the increasing threats of surveillance that exist in every single automobile, to restrict those confidential talks in secure locations. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Defence Context
The revelation follows claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could enable China to switch off public transport and bring disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
The broader defence environment highlights the significance of robust protocols and vigilance in all aspects of government operations, including transport usage to discussions habits.
