A defence minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently investigating the possible threats posed by Chinese cars, and personnel have been instructed to refrain from talking about classified matters in all vehicles.
Safety Guidance for MoD Personnel
In a recent appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to discuss secret information while travelling in China-made cars.
The minister said that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its fleets, but stressed that security is a concern in all modern vehicles.
We have a collection of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any car, because of the growing threats of surveillance that exist in all vehicle, to restrict those secret talks in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using every cars from China, Pollard replied: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Defence Background
This announcement comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could enable China to disable public transport and cause chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been directing laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
The broader defence environment underscores the importance of robust measures and vigilance in every aspects of official operations, including vehicle usage to communication habits.
