A defense minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the potential threats associated with Chinese-made vehicles, and personnel have been told to refrain from talking about secret information in any cars.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
In a recent interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to talk about secret material while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
The minister explained that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but noted that safety is a issue in all contemporary cars.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles account for a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD devices into their car, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any kind of car, because of the increasing threats of surveillance that are present in every single vehicle, to restrict those confidential conversations in protected areas. This is a wise 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 every Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: That is precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Security Context
This announcement follows claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off public transport and cause disruption to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel has been shining lasers at RAF pilots, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
This wider defence environment highlights the importance of robust measures and vigilance in all areas of official operations, from transport usage to communication habits.
