A defense official has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the possible threats associated with Chinese-made vehicles, while personnel have been instructed to refrain from talking about classified information in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for MoD Staff
During a recently aired appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on claims that MoD officials have been instructed not to talk about secret information while riding in Chinese cars.
The minister explained that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but stressed that security is a concern in all modern cars.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles 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 car from another country, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a classified level in any vehicle, due to the growing risks of eavesdropping that exist in all automobile, to only have those secret talks in protected areas. This is a wise and sensible thing for everyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using every Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Security Background
This revelation comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel has been shining lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
This broader defence environment underscores the significance of strong measures and caution in all areas of official operations, from transport usage to communication practices.
