An defence minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is currently examining the possible threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, and personnel have been advised to refrain from talking about secret information in any cars.
Security Advice for MoD Personnel
In a recently aired interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to discuss secret material while riding in China-made cars.
He said that the ministry is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however emphasised that safety is a issue in all contemporary cars.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret level in any kind of car, due to the increasing threats of eavesdropping that are present in every single automobile, to restrict those secret talks in secure locations. This is a prudent and sensible thing for everyone concerned about security.
When it was put to him that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: That is precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Broader Defence Context
The revelation follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese buses, which could enable China to disable buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly directing lasers at RAF pilots, described as a “extremely risky” action by government representatives.
The wider defence environment highlights the significance of robust measures and caution in all aspects of official operations, including transport usage to discussions practices.
