An defense minister has confirmed that the MoD is currently looking into the potential threats associated with Chinese cars, while staff have been advised to avoid talking about secret information in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for MoD Staff
In a recent appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to discuss secret information while travelling in China-made vehicles.
The minister said that the MoD is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that security is a concern in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their car, not to have discussions at a secret classification in any vehicle, due to the increasing threats of surveillance that exist in every single vehicle, to restrict those confidential conversations in protected areas. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Security Background
This revelation follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable buses and cause disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel has been directing laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
This broader security situation highlights the importance of strong protocols and caution in all aspects of government activities, from vehicle use to discussions habits.
