A defence minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently examining the possible security risks associated with Chinese vehicles, while staff have been told to refrain from discussing secret information in any vehicles.
Safety Advice for Defence Staff
During a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed reports that MoD officials have been instructed not to talk about secret information while travelling in Chinese cars.
He said that the MoD is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but emphasised that security is a issue in every modern cars.
Our department has a collection 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 technology into their car, not to have discussions at a classified level in any vehicle, because of the growing risks of surveillance that are present in all automobile, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for everyone worried about security.
After it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using all cars from China, Pollard responded: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Security Background
The announcement follows claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow China to disable buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
The broader security environment highlights the importance of robust protocols and vigilance in all aspects of official activities, including vehicle use to communication practices.
