A defence official has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the potential threats posed by Chinese vehicles, and staff have been told to avoid discussing secret matters in any cars.
Safety Guidance for MoD Staff
During a recently aired appearance on a radio station, a defence minister addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to talk about classified material while travelling in China-made vehicles.
He said that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its fleets, but noted that security is a issue in every modern cars.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles represent 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 not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any kind of car, due to the increasing threats of eavesdropping that are present in every single automobile, to only have those secret conversations in secure locations. That’s a wise and sensible thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Broader Security Background
This announcement follows claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off public transport and bring disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel has been directing lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
The wider defence environment highlights the significance of strong measures and vigilance in all areas of government operations, including transport usage to discussions habits.
