A defence minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently investigating the potential threats associated with Chinese cars, while staff have been told to refrain from discussing secret matters in all cars.
Security Guidance for Defence Personnel
In a recently aired appearance on a radio station, a defence minister addressed reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to talk about secret information while riding in Chinese cars.
The minister said that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but noted that security is a issue in every modern cars.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of cars 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 non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any kind of car, because of the increasing risks of surveillance that are present in all automobile, to restrict those confidential conversations in protected areas. This is a wise and reasonable thing for everyone worried about safety.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: That is exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Security Context
The announcement follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable public transport and cause disruption to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
This wider security environment underscores the significance of strong measures and caution in all aspects of official activities, including transport use to communication habits.
