A defense official has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the possible threats associated with Chinese cars, and staff have been told to avoid talking about classified matters in any cars.
Safety Advice for Defence Staff
During a recently aired appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to discuss secret material while riding in Chinese vehicles.
He stated that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its fleets, but emphasised that security is a issue in every modern vehicles.
We have a collection of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD technology into their car, not to have conversations at a classified level in any kind of car, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that exist in all vehicle, to only have those secret talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about security.
After it was put to him that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using all cars from China, the minister replied: That is exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Defence Background
This announcement comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have warned 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 transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel has been directing lasers at RAF aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
This wider defence situation highlights the significance of strong protocols and vigilance in every aspects of government operations, including transport usage to discussions habits.
