A defense official has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese cars, while staff have been advised to avoid talking about secret information in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
In a recent interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to discuss secret information while riding in China-made cars.
The minister stated that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but stressed that security is a issue in every modern vehicles.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
However whether you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug MoD devices into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any kind of car, due to the increasing threats of surveillance that exist in all vehicle, to restrict those confidential talks in protected areas. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone worried about security.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using all Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Security Background
The revelation comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow China to disable public transport and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship was reportedly directing laser beams at RAF pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
The broader security environment underscores the significance of strong protocols and caution in all aspects of official operations, including vehicle usage to discussions practices.
