An defense official has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently examining the potential security risks posed by Chinese-made vehicles, and personnel have been advised to refrain from talking about classified matters in any vehicles.
Safety Advice for MoD Staff
In a recently aired appearance on a radio station, a defence minister addressed reports that MoD officials have been told not to discuss classified material while travelling in China-made vehicles.
The minister stated that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however noted that safety is a issue in every modern cars.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles account for a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any kind of car, due to the growing threats of surveillance that are present in every single vehicle, to only have those secret talks in protected areas. This is a wise and sensible thing for everyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using all cars from China, Pollard responded: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Security Background
This revelation comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off buses and cause chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel has been directing laser beams at RAF aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
This broader defence situation underscores the importance of strong measures and vigilance in every areas of government operations, including transport use to communication practices.
