An defence minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently examining the potential threats associated with Chinese cars, while personnel have been advised to avoid talking about secret information in all vehicles.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired appearance on LBC, a defence minister addressed claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to talk about secret information while travelling in China-made cars.
The minister stated that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that safety is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
But whether you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a secret classification in any kind of car, due to the growing risks of surveillance that exist in all automobile, to only have those secret talks in secure locations. That’s a wise and sensible thing for anyone concerned about safety.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Broader Defence Background
This announcement follows reports from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable China to disable buses and cause chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly directing laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
This wider defence environment underscores the significance of strong measures and vigilance in all aspects of official operations, including transport use to discussions habits.
