An defence minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the potential threats associated with Chinese cars, while staff have been advised to avoid talking about classified matters in all cars.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
In a recent interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed reports that MoD staff have been told not to discuss classified material while travelling in Chinese cars.
He said that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that safety is a concern in all contemporary vehicles.
We have a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug MoD technology into their car, to avoid having discussions at a classified level in any car, due to the growing threats of surveillance that exist in every single automobile, to only have those confidential talks in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for everyone worried about security.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using every cars from China, the minister responded: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
This announcement follows reports from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable public transport and bring disruption to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship has been shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
The wider defence environment underscores the significance of robust measures and vigilance in all areas of government operations, including transport usage to discussions practices.
