An defence minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the possible threats associated with Chinese-made vehicles, and staff have been told to avoid talking about classified matters in all cars.
Security Guidance for MoD Staff
During a recently aired appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to discuss classified material while riding in Chinese cars.
He stated that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its fleets, however stressed that safety is a issue in all modern vehicles.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
But whether you’re driving a Chinese car 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 classified level in any vehicle, due to the increasing threats of eavesdropping that exist in every single automobile, to restrict those confidential talks in protected areas. That’s a wise and sensible thing for everyone concerned about security.
When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using all cars from China, the minister responded: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
This announcement follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel has been directing lasers at RAF aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
This wider defence environment highlights the importance of strong measures and caution in all areas of government operations, including vehicle usage to communication habits.
