An defence minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential threats posed by Chinese-made cars, while staff have been told to avoid talking about classified matters in any vehicles.
Safety Advice for MoD Staff
During a recently aired interview on a radio station, a defence minister addressed reports that MoD staff have been instructed not to talk about classified material while riding in China-made cars.
He said that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its fleets, however stressed that safety is a issue in all modern cars.
We have a collection of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a classified classification in any car, because of the increasing risks of surveillance that exist in all vehicle, to restrict those secret conversations in protected areas. That’s a wise and sensible thing for everyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using all cars from China, Pollard responded: That is exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Background
The revelation follows claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable buses and bring disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel has been directing lasers at RAF pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
The broader security situation highlights the significance of robust measures and caution in every aspects of official operations, including transport usage to communication practices.
