An defense minister has confirmed that the MoD is currently looking into the potential threats posed by Chinese-made cars, and staff have been advised to avoid talking about secret information in all cars.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
During a recent appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to talk about secret information while travelling in China-made cars.
He stated that the ministry is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however stressed that security is a issue in all contemporary cars.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a secret level in any vehicle, because of the increasing threats of surveillance that are present in every single vehicle, to restrict those confidential conversations in secure locations. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone worried about safety.
When it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using every Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Defence Background
This revelation comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel has been shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
The wider defence situation highlights the significance of robust measures and caution in every aspects of government activities, including vehicle use to communication habits.
