An defence minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential threats associated with Chinese-made cars, and personnel have been advised to avoid discussing classified information in all vehicles.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
In a recently aired appearance on LBC, a defence minister addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to discuss classified information while travelling in Chinese cars.
The minister stated that the MoD is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that security is a issue in all modern vehicles.
We have a collection of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their car, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any kind of car, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that exist in every single automobile, to only have those confidential conversations in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for everyone worried about security.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using all cars from China, Pollard responded: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
This revelation comes as 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 switch off buses and cause chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship was reportedly directing laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
The wider security environment highlights the significance of strong measures and caution in every areas of government activities, including transport use to discussions practices.
