A defence official has stated that the MoD is currently investigating the possible threats posed by Chinese-made cars, and personnel have been told to avoid discussing classified information in all vehicles.
Safety Advice for Defence Staff
In a recent appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to talk about secret information while travelling in Chinese cars.
He explained that the MoD is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however noted that security is a concern in every modern cars.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a classified classification in any car, due to the growing risks of surveillance that exist in all automobile, to only have those secret conversations in secure locations. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using all Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Background
This revelation comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese buses, which could enable China to disable buses and cause chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at RAF pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
The broader defence environment underscores the importance of robust protocols and caution in every areas of government activities, including transport usage to discussions habits.
