A defense minister has confirmed that the MoD is actively looking into the potential security risks associated with Chinese-made vehicles, and staff have been instructed to avoid talking about classified information in all vehicles.
Security Guidance for MoD Personnel
During a recent appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD staff have been told not to discuss classified information while riding in Chinese vehicles.
The minister said that the ministry is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but noted that safety is a issue in every modern vehicles.
We have a collection of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a classified classification in any kind of vehicle, due to the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in secure locations. This is a wise and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using every cars from China, Pollard replied: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Security Context
This revelation follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship has been shining lasers at RAF aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
The wider security situation underscores the significance of robust measures and caution in every areas of government operations, including vehicle use to discussions habits.
