A defense minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the possible threats posed by Chinese-made cars, and personnel have been told to avoid talking about secret matters in all cars.
Safety Guidance for MoD Staff
In a recent appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to discuss classified information while riding in China-made vehicles.
He said that the ministry is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, however emphasised that security is a issue in every contemporary cars.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their car, to avoid having conversations at a secret level in any car, because of the growing threats of surveillance that exist in every single vehicle, to restrict those secret talks in secure locations. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using all cars from China, the minister replied: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Security Context
The announcement follows reports from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off buses and cause disruption to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
This wider security situation underscores the significance of robust measures and caution in every areas of government activities, including transport usage to communication practices.
