A defence minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the potential security risks posed by Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been told to avoid talking about classified matters in any vehicles.
Security Advice for Defence Personnel
In a recently aired interview on LBC, a defence minister commented on reports that MoD officials have been instructed not to discuss classified material while riding in Chinese vehicles.
The minister said that the ministry is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however noted that safety is a issue in every modern cars.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a secret level in any kind of vehicle, because of the increasing threats of surveillance that are present in all vehicle, to restrict those secret conversations in secure locations. This is a wise and reasonable thing for everyone worried about security.
When it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Security Context
This revelation comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could enable China to disable buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” action by government representatives.
The broader defence environment underscores the importance of strong measures and caution in all areas of government activities, from transport use to discussions habits.
