An defence official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential threats associated with Chinese cars, and staff have been advised to refrain from discussing secret matters in all cars.
Security Guidance for Defence Staff
During a recent interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to talk about secret material while riding in Chinese vehicles.
He stated that the MoD is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that safety is a concern in all contemporary vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their car, to avoid having discussions at a secret classification in any car, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to only have those confidential talks in protected areas. That’s a wise and sensible thing for anyone worried about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using all cars from China, the minister responded: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Security Context
This revelation comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow China to disable public transport and cause chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship was reportedly directing laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
The wider defence environment underscores the significance of strong protocols and caution in every areas of government operations, including transport use to discussions habits.
