A defence official has revealed that the MoD is currently looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese cars, and staff have been advised to refrain from talking about secret information in any cars.
Safety Advice for Defence Staff
In a recently aired appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to discuss secret information while riding in China-made cars.
He explained that the MoD is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but emphasised that security is a concern in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a very small number.
But whether you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret level in any car, due to the increasing threats of surveillance that exist in all automobile, to restrict those confidential conversations in protected areas. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: That is precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Broader Security Context
This revelation comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could enable China to disable public transport and bring disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at RAF pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
This broader defence environment highlights the significance of strong measures and caution in every areas of government activities, including vehicle use to communication practices.
