An defense minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential threats posed by Chinese cars, and personnel have been instructed to avoid discussing secret matters in all vehicles.
Safety Advice for MoD Staff
In a recent interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to talk about classified material while riding in China-made vehicles.
The minister explained that the ministry is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, however noted that safety is a issue in every modern cars.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a secret level in any vehicle, due to the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all automobile, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. This is a wise and sensible thing for anyone worried about safety.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using every cars from China, Pollard replied: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
The revelation follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow China to switch off buses and cause chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship has been shining lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
This broader defence environment underscores the importance of robust measures and vigilance in every aspects of official activities, from vehicle usage to communication habits.
