A defence minister has stated that the MoD is currently examining the potential security risks associated with Chinese vehicles, while staff have been advised to avoid talking about secret information in all vehicles.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
In a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to discuss classified information while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
The minister explained that the ministry is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but emphasised that security is a issue in every modern vehicles.
We have a collection of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug MoD devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any vehicle, due to the increasing risks of eavesdropping that exist in every single vehicle, to only have those confidential talks in protected areas. This is a wise and reasonable thing for everyone worried about security.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using all Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Broader Security Background
The revelation follows reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable buses and bring disruption to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship has been directing lasers at RAF aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
The broader defence environment underscores the significance of strong measures and vigilance in every areas of government operations, including transport usage to discussions practices.
