An defence minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential security risks posed by Chinese vehicles, and staff have been told to avoid talking about secret matters in all cars.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
In a recently aired interview on a radio station, a defence minister commented on claims that MoD officials have been told not to discuss secret material while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
The minister said that the ministry is “examining” cars from China within its fleets, but emphasised that safety is a concern in all contemporary cars.
We have a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their car, not to have discussions at a secret level in any kind of car, because of the growing risks of eavesdropping that exist in every single automobile, to only have those secret conversations in secure locations. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone worried about security.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Security Background
This revelation comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow China to disable buses and bring disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
The wider security environment highlights the significance of strong measures and caution in every areas of government activities, including vehicle use to communication practices.
