A defense minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, and staff have been instructed to refrain from discussing secret matters in any vehicles.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
In a recently aired appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to talk about secret information while riding in China-made cars.
He stated that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but noted that safety is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug MoD devices into their car, to avoid having discussions at a classified classification in any kind of vehicle, due to the growing risks of eavesdropping that exist in all vehicle, to restrict those secret talks in secure locations. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about safety.
When it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: That is precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Security Background
This announcement follows reports from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable China to disable buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship was reportedly directing lasers at RAF aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
The wider security environment highlights the importance of robust measures and vigilance in all areas of official operations, from transport usage to communication habits.
