A defense minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese cars, while staff have been advised to refrain from discussing classified matters in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for MoD Personnel
In a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on claims that MoD officials have been told not to talk about classified material while riding in China-made cars.
The minister said that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its fleets, but stressed that safety is a concern in all modern vehicles.
Our department has a collection of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their car, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any car, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that exist in every single automobile, to restrict those confidential talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for everyone worried about security.
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.”
Broader Defence Background
This announcement comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could allow China to switch off buses and cause disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
The broader security environment highlights the significance of robust measures and vigilance in every aspects of official activities, including transport use to discussions habits.
