A defence minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the potential threats associated with Chinese vehicles, and staff have been advised to avoid discussing classified information in any cars.
Security Guidance for Defence Staff
During a recent interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to discuss classified material while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
He said that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its fleets, however emphasised that safety is a issue in every modern vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret level in any kind of car, due to the growing risks of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about safety.
When it was put to him that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Security Context
The revelation follows reports from Scandinavian countries have warned the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable buses and cause chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
The wider security environment highlights the significance of strong protocols and vigilance in every aspects of official operations, including vehicle usage to communication practices.
