An defense minister has revealed that the MoD is currently investigating the potential threats posed by Chinese cars, while personnel have been instructed to refrain from talking about classified information in all cars.
Safety Guidance for MoD Personnel
In a recently aired appearance on a radio station, a defence minister addressed claims that MoD officials have been instructed not to talk about classified information while riding in China-made vehicles.
The minister explained that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that security is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China 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 risks of surveillance that exist in all vehicle, to only have those secret talks in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for everyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Defence Background
This revelation follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow China to switch off buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship was reportedly directing lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
This broader security environment highlights the significance of strong protocols and vigilance in every aspects of government operations, including transport use to communication habits.
