A defense minister has confirmed that the MoD is actively investigating the possible security risks associated with Chinese cars, and personnel have been advised to avoid discussing secret matters in any vehicles.
Security Guidance for Defence Personnel
During a recently aired interview on a radio station, a defence minister addressed claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to talk about secret material while travelling in China-made vehicles.
The minister explained that the MoD is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, however emphasised that safety is a concern in all contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a collection of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a classified level in any vehicle, due to the growing threats of eavesdropping that exist in every single vehicle, to restrict those secret talks in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for everyone worried about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Defence Context
The revelation follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could allow China to disable public transport and bring chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly shining lasers at RAF pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
The wider security situation underscores the importance of strong measures and vigilance in every areas of government activities, including transport usage to communication habits.
