An defense official has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the potential security risks posed by Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been advised to refrain from talking about secret information in all vehicles.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
During a recently aired interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to discuss secret information while travelling in China-made cars.
He explained that the ministry is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but stressed that security is a issue in all contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a secret classification in any vehicle, due to the growing risks of surveillance that are present in every single vehicle, to restrict those confidential talks in secure locations. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for everyone worried about security.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using every cars from China, Pollard responded: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Security Context
This announcement comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable public transport and bring disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel has been directing laser beams at RAF pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
The wider defence environment highlights the importance of strong measures and vigilance in all areas of official activities, including transport use to communication habits.
