An defense official has stated that the MoD is actively examining the possible threats associated with Chinese-made vehicles, while personnel have been told to refrain from discussing classified information in any cars.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed claims that MoD staff have been told not to talk about secret information while riding in Chinese vehicles.
He said that the ministry is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that safety is a issue in every modern vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a secret classification in any car, due to the growing threats of surveillance that exist in every single vehicle, to only have those confidential talks in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for anyone worried about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: That is exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Security Background
This announcement comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow China to disable buses and cause disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship has been shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
The broader security situation highlights the importance of strong measures and vigilance in every areas of official activities, including vehicle use to communication practices.
