A defense minister has revealed that the MoD is currently examining the potential security risks posed by Chinese cars, and personnel have been told to avoid talking about secret matters in any vehicles.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
In a recent interview on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to talk about secret information while travelling in China-made cars.
He said that the MoD is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but stressed that safety is a concern in every contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles account for a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their car, not to have discussions at a secret classification in any car, because of the growing threats of surveillance that exist in every single automobile, to only have those secret talks in protected areas. This is a prudent and sensible thing for everyone concerned about security.
When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using every Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Broader Security Context
The revelation comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and bring disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” action by government representatives.
This wider defence environment underscores the importance of robust protocols and vigilance in all areas of government activities, from vehicle usage to discussions habits.
