A defense official has confirmed that the MoD is currently looking into the potential threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, while personnel have been instructed to avoid talking about classified matters in any cars.
Safety Advice for Defence Staff
During a recently aired appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on claims that MoD staff have been instructed not to talk about secret information while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
He explained that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however emphasised that safety is a concern in all contemporary cars.
We have a collection of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their car, not to have discussions at a secret classification in any car, because of the growing risks of eavesdropping that exist in all vehicle, to only have those confidential conversations in protected areas. That’s a wise and sensible thing for everyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using every Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Background
This announcement follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable public transport and cause chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly directing laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
This wider defence environment highlights the importance of robust protocols and caution in every aspects of government operations, from transport usage to discussions practices.