A defense minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the possible security risks associated with Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been told to refrain from talking about secret matters in all vehicles.
Safety Guidance for Defence Personnel
During a recently aired appearance on a radio station, a defence minister addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to discuss secret information while riding in Chinese vehicles.
He stated that the MoD is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however stressed that safety is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a fleet of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD technology into their car, to avoid having discussions at a secret classification in any kind of car, because of the growing threats of surveillance that exist in every single vehicle, to only have those confidential talks in protected areas. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for anyone worried about security.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using every cars from China, Pollard replied: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
This announcement comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow China to switch off public transport and cause chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel has been directing laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
This wider defence environment underscores the importance of robust protocols and caution in every areas of government activities, including vehicle use to discussions habits.
