A defence minister has confirmed that the MoD is actively investigating the potential threats associated with Chinese cars, while personnel have been told to avoid talking about secret matters in all vehicles.
Security Advice for Defence Staff
In a recently aired appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD staff have been instructed not to discuss classified information while travelling in Chinese cars.
The minister said that the MoD is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but stressed that security is a issue in all contemporary cars.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their car, not to have conversations at a secret level in any kind of car, due to the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in every single automobile, to only have those secret conversations in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone worried about security.
When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using every Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
The announcement comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable public transport and cause chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship has been shining lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
The broader security environment underscores the significance of robust measures and vigilance in every areas of official operations, including transport use to discussions habits.
