An defense minister has confirmed that the MoD is actively looking into the possible security risks posed by Chinese cars, and personnel have been instructed to refrain from discussing secret matters in all cars.
Safety Advice for MoD Staff
In a recent interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to discuss secret information while riding in China-made vehicles.
He said that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its fleets, however stressed that security is a concern in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a collection of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
But whether you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a secret level in any vehicle, because of the increasing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to restrict those confidential talks in secure locations. This is a wise and sensible thing for anyone worried about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: That is precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Broader Defence Context
This revelation follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow China to switch off buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship was reportedly directing lasers at RAF aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
The wider security situation underscores the importance of strong measures and vigilance in every aspects of government activities, including vehicle usage to discussions habits.
