A defence minister has confirmed that the MoD is currently looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese cars, while staff have been instructed to refrain from discussing secret information in all vehicles.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
During a recent interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on reports that MoD staff have been instructed not to discuss secret information while travelling in China-made cars.
The minister stated that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but noted that safety is a issue in all contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a collection of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a classified classification in any car, due to the growing risks of surveillance that are present in every single automobile, to only have those secret talks in protected areas. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using all Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Defence Context
This revelation follows claims from Scandinavian countries have warned the United Kingdom to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and cause disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
This broader security environment highlights the importance of robust measures and vigilance in every aspects of official operations, including transport use to communication habits.
