A defense official has revealed that the MoD is actively looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese vehicles, and staff have been instructed to avoid talking about secret information in all cars.
Security Guidance for Defence Personnel
In a recent appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD staff have been instructed not to discuss classified material while riding in China-made vehicles.
The minister explained that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however noted that safety is a concern in every contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a classified level in any kind of car, due to the growing risks of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to only have those confidential conversations in secure locations. This is a wise and reasonable thing for anyone worried about safety.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Defence Background
This announcement follows claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off public transport and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
This broader security environment highlights the significance of robust measures and caution in every aspects of government activities, from vehicle use to communication habits.
