A defense minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the potential threats posed by Chinese vehicles, while staff have been told to refrain from discussing secret information in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for Defence Personnel
During a recently aired appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to discuss classified information while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
The minister said that the ministry is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however stressed that security is a issue in all contemporary cars.
Our department has a collection of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their car, not to have conversations at a secret level in any kind of vehicle, because of the increasing risks of eavesdropping that exist in all vehicle, to restrict those secret talks in secure locations. This is a wise and reasonable thing for everyone worried about safety.
When it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Broader Security Context
This revelation comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable public transport and bring chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship has been directing lasers at RAF pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
The wider defence situation underscores the importance of strong measures and caution in all areas of government activities, including transport usage to communication habits.
