A defense official has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential security risks posed by Chinese vehicles, while staff have been instructed to avoid talking about classified matters in any cars.
Safety Guidance for MoD Staff
In a recent interview on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on reports that MoD staff have been instructed not to discuss classified material while travelling in China-made vehicles.
The minister explained that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however stressed that safety is a issue in every modern vehicles.
We have a collection of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a classified classification in any kind of vehicle, because of the increasing threats of surveillance that are present in every single vehicle, to only have those confidential conversations in secure locations. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone worried about security.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: That is precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Security Background
This announcement follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable public transport and cause disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship has been directing lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
The wider security situation underscores the significance of strong measures and caution in all aspects of official activities, including vehicle use to discussions habits.
