A defence official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the possible security risks posed by Chinese cars, while personnel have been advised to avoid discussing secret information in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
During a recently aired appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed reports that MoD officials have been instructed not to talk about classified information while riding in China-made cars.
He explained that the ministry is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however stressed that security is a issue in every contemporary cars.
Our department has a fleet of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any vehicle, due to the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all automobile, to only have those confidential talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for everyone concerned about safety.
After it was put to him that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using every cars from China, Pollard responded: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Security Background
This revelation follows reports from Scandinavian countries have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese electric buses, which could enable China to disable public transport and bring disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been directing lasers at RAF aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” action by government representatives.
This wider security situation underscores the importance of robust protocols and caution in all areas of government activities, including vehicle usage to discussions habits.
