A defense official has revealed that the MoD is actively examining the potential threats associated with Chinese vehicles, while personnel have been told to refrain from talking about classified information in any vehicles.
Security Advice for Defence Staff
In a recently aired appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to discuss classified information while travelling in Chinese cars.
He stated that the ministry is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however noted that safety is a issue in every modern vehicles.
Our department has a collection of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a classified classification in any vehicle, because of the increasing risks of surveillance that exist in all automobile, to only have those confidential talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about safety.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using all cars from China, the minister replied: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Defence Context
The revelation comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship has been shining laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
This wider defence environment underscores the importance of strong measures and vigilance in every aspects of government activities, including vehicle usage to communication habits.
