A defense official has confirmed that the MoD is currently looking into the potential threats associated with Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been advised to avoid talking about classified matters in all cars.
Security Advice for Defence Personnel
During a recently aired appearance on a radio station, a defence minister addressed reports that MoD officials have been told not to talk about classified material while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
The minister said that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but noted that security is a issue in all contemporary cars.
We have a collection of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a classified classification in any kind of car, due to the increasing risks of surveillance that are present in every single vehicle, to restrict those confidential conversations in secure locations. This is a wise and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: That is precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Security Background
This revelation follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly directing laser beams at RAF aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
The broader security environment highlights the significance of strong measures and vigilance in every areas of official operations, including transport use to communication practices.
