A defense official has confirmed that the MoD is currently looking into the possible threats associated with Chinese cars, while personnel have been advised to avoid talking about secret matters in any vehicles.
Safety Advice for Defence Staff
During a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on claims that MoD staff have been told not to discuss classified information while riding in China-made vehicles.
The minister explained that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its fleets, but emphasised that security is a concern in all contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD technology into their car, not to have discussions at a secret classification in any car, because of the growing risks of eavesdropping that exist in all vehicle, to restrict those secret talks in protected areas. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about safety.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using all Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: That is precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
This announcement follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow China to disable buses and bring disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship was reportedly directing lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
The broader defence environment highlights the significance of strong protocols and caution in all areas of government activities, including transport use to communication practices.
