A defense official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the possible threats associated with Chinese-made cars, while personnel have been instructed to refrain from talking about secret matters in any cars.
Security Advice for Defence Staff
In a recently aired interview on a radio station, a defence minister commented on reports that MoD officials have been told not to discuss classified material while riding in China-made vehicles.
The minister stated that the ministry is “examining” cars from China within its fleets, but stressed that security is a concern in every modern vehicles.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret level in any kind of car, due to the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in every single automobile, to restrict those confidential conversations in secure locations. This is a wise and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
This announcement follows claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese buses, which could allow China to disable public transport and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship was reportedly directing laser beams at RAF pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
The broader defence environment underscores the importance of strong measures and caution in every aspects of government operations, including vehicle use to discussions habits.
