A defense official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the potential security risks associated with Chinese-made cars, while staff have been told to refrain from talking about classified information in all cars.
Security Advice for MoD Personnel
In a recently aired interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on claims that MoD officials have been instructed not to talk about classified information while riding in China-made cars.
He said that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its fleets, however noted that safety is a concern in all modern cars.
Our department has a collection of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any car, because of the growing threats of surveillance that are present in every single automobile, to restrict those secret talks in secure locations. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using all cars from China, the minister replied: That is precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Security Background
The revelation follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese buses, which could allow China to switch off public transport and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel has been shining lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
The wider security situation highlights the importance of strong measures and vigilance in every areas of official operations, including vehicle usage to communication habits.
