A defence minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the potential security risks posed by Chinese-made cars, while personnel have been advised to refrain from discussing secret information in any cars.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
During a recent interview on LBC, a defence minister commented on reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to talk about secret material while travelling in Chinese cars.
The minister said that the ministry is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but stressed that safety is a concern in every modern cars.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their car, to avoid having conversations at a classified classification in any car, because of the increasing threats of surveillance that are present in every single vehicle, to only have those confidential conversations in protected areas. This is a wise and sensible thing for anyone worried about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: That is precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Security Background
This revelation follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable public transport and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF pilots, described as a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
The wider security situation underscores the importance of robust measures and caution in all areas of official operations, including vehicle use to communication habits.
