An defense official has revealed that the MoD is currently looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese cars, and staff have been told to refrain from talking about secret matters in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for MoD Staff
In a recent interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to talk about secret information while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
The minister explained that the ministry is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, however stressed that security is a concern in all modern cars.
Our department has a collection of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug MoD devices into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a classified level in any kind of vehicle, due to the increasing threats of eavesdropping that are present in every single vehicle, to only have those confidential talks in protected areas. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using all Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: That is exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Broader Security Background
This revelation follows reports from Scandinavian countries have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could allow China to switch off buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship has been directing lasers at RAF pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
This wider security environment underscores the significance of robust measures and vigilance in every aspects of government operations, including transport use to discussions practices.
