A defense official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the possible security risks associated with Chinese vehicles, while staff have been advised to refrain from talking about classified matters in all cars.
Safety Advice for MoD Staff
In a recently aired appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD officials have been told not to talk about secret information while riding in China-made vehicles.
The minister stated that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its fleets, however noted that safety is a concern in every modern cars.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a secret classification in any kind of vehicle, because of the growing risks of surveillance that exist in every single vehicle, to only have those confidential conversations in protected areas. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using every cars from China, the minister replied: That is precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
The revelation comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow China to disable buses and cause chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel has been directing laser beams at RAF aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
The broader defence environment underscores the significance of strong protocols and vigilance in every areas of government operations, including vehicle use to discussions practices.
