An defense minister has stated that the MoD is currently looking into the potential threats associated with Chinese-made vehicles, and staff have been advised to avoid talking about classified matters in all vehicles.
Security Guidance for MoD Personnel
During a recent interview on LBC, a defence minister commented on claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to discuss secret information while riding in Chinese cars.
The minister said that the MoD is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but noted that security is a concern in every modern vehicles.
We have a collection of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD devices into their car, not to have conversations at a classified classification in any vehicle, due to the increasing threats of surveillance that are present in all vehicle, to restrict those secret talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for everyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using every cars from China, Pollard replied: That is exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Defence Context
The revelation comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable public transport and cause chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel has been directing laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
The broader defence environment underscores the significance of robust measures and vigilance in every areas of official operations, including transport use to communication habits.
