A defence minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently investigating the potential security risks associated with Chinese cars, while staff have been advised to refrain from talking about secret information in all cars.
Safety Guidance for MoD Personnel
In a recently aired appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD officials have been told not to discuss secret information while riding in Chinese cars.
He explained that the MoD is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, however noted that security is a issue in all modern cars.
We have a collection of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a very small number.
However whether you’re traveling in 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 car, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any kind of car, because of the increasing threats of surveillance that exist in all vehicle, to only have those secret talks 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 ministry to cease using all cars from China, the minister responded: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
This revelation follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese buses, which could enable China to disable buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
This broader security situation highlights the importance of strong measures and vigilance in every areas of government operations, including vehicle use to communication habits.
