An defense official has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently investigating the possible threats associated with Chinese vehicles, and personnel have been told to avoid talking about secret matters in all cars.
Security Guidance for MoD Staff
During a recent interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to discuss secret material while travelling in China-made vehicles.
The minister explained that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its fleets, however emphasised that security is a issue in all modern vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a classified classification in any kind of car, because of the increasing risks of surveillance that are present in all vehicle, to only have those confidential talks in secure locations. That’s a wise and sensible thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using every cars from China, Pollard replied: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Background
The revelation follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel has been directing laser beams at RAF aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
The wider defence situation highlights the significance of strong measures and caution in every areas of official operations, from transport use to communication habits.
