Government Official Confirms MoD Investigating Security Risk from Vehicles from China, with Personnel Told to Avoid Secret Talk in Cars.
A defence minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently examining the possible threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, while personnel have been instructed to avoid talking about classified information in all vehicles.
Safety Guidance for MoD Staff
In a recent interview on a radio station, a defence minister commented on reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to discuss classified material while travelling in China-made cars.
He said that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however emphasised that security is a concern in all modern vehicles.
We have a fleet of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
But whether you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret level in any kind of car, because of the increasing threats of eavesdropping that exist in every single automobile, to only have those confidential conversations in secure locations. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using all cars from China, Pollard responded: That is exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Context
This announcement follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable public transport and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship has been directing laser beams at RAF aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
The broader security situation underscores the significance of robust measures and vigilance in every areas of official operations, including transport use to communication practices.
