An defence official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently examining the possible security risks posed by Chinese-made cars, while personnel have been advised to refrain from talking about classified information in any vehicles.
Security Advice for MoD Personnel
In a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed reports that MoD staff have been told not to discuss classified information while travelling in Chinese cars.
He said that the ministry is “investigating” cars from China within its fleets, however noted that security is a issue in all modern vehicles.
We have a collection of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if 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 car, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any car, due to the growing threats of surveillance that are present in every single vehicle, to only have those confidential talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using all Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Defence Context
The announcement follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable public transport and bring disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship has been directing laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
The wider security environment highlights the significance of robust measures and vigilance in every areas of official activities, including transport use to discussions practices.
