A defense official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the potential threats associated with Chinese vehicles, while staff have been told to avoid discussing secret matters in all cars.
Safety Guidance for Defence Personnel
During a recently aired interview on a radio station, a defence minister addressed claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to talk about classified material while riding in Chinese cars.
The minister said that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its fleets, however stressed that safety is a concern in every modern cars.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug MoD devices into their car, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any kind of vehicle, due to the increasing threats of surveillance that are present in all automobile, to restrict those secret talks in secure locations. This is a wise and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about safety.
After 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’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Security Background
The revelation follows reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable China to switch off public transport and cause chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly shining lasers at RAF aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
The wider defence environment underscores the significance of robust measures and caution in every aspects of government activities, including transport use to discussions habits.
