An defense minister has revealed that the MoD is actively investigating the potential threats associated with Chinese-made cars, and personnel have been told to avoid discussing secret information in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for MoD Personnel
In a recently aired appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to discuss secret information while riding in Chinese vehicles.
He stated that the ministry is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but emphasised that safety is a issue in all contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any car, because of the increasing risks of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to only have those confidential talks in protected areas. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for anyone worried about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Broader Defence Context
This revelation comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship has been shining lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
The broader security environment highlights the significance of robust measures and vigilance in all aspects of government operations, including vehicle usage to discussions practices.
