A defence official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the potential security risks associated with Chinese vehicles, while staff have been told to avoid talking about classified matters in all vehicles.
Safety Guidance for Defence Personnel
In a recently aired appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to discuss classified information while riding in China-made cars.
The minister explained that the ministry is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but noted that security is a concern in all modern vehicles.
Our department has a collection of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However 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 Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret level in any car, because of the increasing risks of eavesdropping that exist in all automobile, to only have those confidential talks in protected areas. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about security.
After it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using all Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Defence Background
The revelation comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and cause chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at RAF pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
The wider security environment highlights the importance of robust measures and caution in every aspects of official activities, including transport usage to communication practices.
