An defence minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential threats associated with Chinese-made vehicles, and staff have been told to refrain from discussing secret information in any vehicles.
Security Guidance for MoD Staff
During a recent appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to discuss secret material while travelling in Chinese cars.
He explained that the MoD is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but emphasised that security is a issue in every modern vehicles.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD devices into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a classified level in any vehicle, due to the growing risks of eavesdropping that are present in all automobile, to only have those confidential talks in secure locations. This is a wise and sensible thing for everyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using every Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Security Context
This announcement follows claims from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could enable China to disable public transport and cause chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at RAF pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
This broader security environment highlights the importance of strong measures and caution in all aspects of official activities, including transport use to communication practices.
