A defence minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the potential security risks posed by Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been advised to refrain from talking about secret matters in any vehicles.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
During a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on claims that MoD officials have been instructed not to discuss secret information while riding in Chinese vehicles.
The minister said that the ministry is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however stressed that safety is a issue in all contemporary vehicles.
We have a collection of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their car, not to have discussions at a classified level in any vehicle, due to the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in every single vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in secure locations. This is a wise and sensible thing for everyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: That is precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Defence Background
The announcement follows claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable public transport and bring disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly directing lasers at RAF aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
The broader defence situation underscores the significance of strong protocols and caution in all aspects of official activities, including vehicle use to communication habits.
