Government Official Confirms MoD Examining Security Risk from Vehicles from China, with Personnel Instructed to Refrain from Secret Talk in Vehicles.
An defense minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the possible security risks associated with Chinese-made vehicles, while personnel have been told to refrain from talking about secret matters in any cars.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
During a recently aired interview on a radio station, a defence minister addressed reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to talk about secret material while riding in China-made vehicles.
He explained that the ministry is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that safety is a concern in all modern cars.
We have a collection of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their car, to avoid having discussions at a secret classification in any car, because of the increasing threats of eavesdropping that are present in every single vehicle, to restrict those secret conversations in secure locations. This is a wise and reasonable thing for anyone worried about security.
When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Broader Security Background
This announcement follows reports from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the presence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable public transport and cause disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
The broader defence situation underscores the importance of strong measures and caution in every aspects of government activities, including vehicle usage to discussions habits.
