A defense official has stated that the MoD is actively looking into the potential threats associated with Chinese vehicles, and personnel have been advised to avoid discussing classified information in all vehicles.
Security Guidance for Defence Staff
During a recent interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to talk about classified information while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
The minister stated that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that safety is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their car, to avoid having discussions at a secret level in any kind of vehicle, due to the increasing threats of eavesdropping that exist in all automobile, to only have those confidential talks in protected areas. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using all cars from China, the minister responded: That is exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Broader Security Background
The revelation follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and cause disruption to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly directing laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
This broader defence environment underscores the significance of robust measures and caution in every areas of official operations, including vehicle usage to discussions practices.
