An defence official has confirmed that the MoD is actively looking into the possible threats associated with Chinese-made cars, and staff have been told to refrain from discussing secret matters in any vehicles.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
In a recent appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to discuss secret material while riding in China-made vehicles.
He explained that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its fleets, but emphasised that safety is a issue in all contemporary vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
But 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, to avoid having discussions at a secret classification in any kind of vehicle, due to the growing threats of eavesdropping that exist in all automobile, to only have those secret talks in secure locations. That’s a wise and sensible thing for anyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: That is precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Security Context
The revelation comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and bring disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship has been shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
The broader security situation highlights the importance of robust measures and vigilance in all areas of government operations, including transport use to discussions habits.
