An defence official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the potential security risks associated with Chinese cars, and personnel have been instructed to refrain from discussing classified matters in any vehicles.
Security Advice for Defence Staff
In a recently aired appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to talk about classified information while travelling in China-made cars.
He stated that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its fleets, but emphasised that safety is a concern in every modern vehicles.
Our department has a collection of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles account for a very small number.
But whether you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any vehicle, because of the growing risks of surveillance that are present in every single automobile, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using every cars from China, the minister replied: That is exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Defence Context
The revelation follows claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable public transport and cause chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship has been directing lasers at RAF pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
The wider defence situation underscores the importance of strong measures and caution in every aspects of government operations, including transport use to communication habits.
