An defence minister has revealed that the MoD is actively looking into the possible threats associated with Chinese-made vehicles, while personnel have been told to refrain from talking about secret information in any vehicles.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
In a recently aired interview on a radio station, a defence minister addressed claims that MoD officials have been instructed not to talk about classified material while riding in Chinese vehicles.
He stated that the ministry is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however stressed that security is a issue in every contemporary cars.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a classified level in any vehicle, due to the growing risks of surveillance that are present in all vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in secure locations. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone worried about security.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Context
This announcement follows claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and bring disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly directing laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
This broader defence environment highlights the importance of robust measures and caution in every areas of official activities, including vehicle use to discussions habits.
