A defence official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently investigating the potential threats associated with Chinese cars, while personnel have been told to refrain from discussing classified matters in all vehicles.
Security Guidance for Defence Staff
In a recently aired interview on LBC, a defence minister commented on reports that MoD staff have been told not to talk about classified material while travelling in China-made cars.
He explained that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however stressed that safety is a concern in all contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles account for a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD devices into their car, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any vehicle, due to the increasing risks of surveillance that are present in all automobile, to only have those secret talks in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was put to him that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
The revelation follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow China to disable public transport and cause chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been directing lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
The broader defence situation highlights the importance of strong protocols and caution in every areas of government activities, including vehicle use to discussions practices.
