An defence minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the possible security risks associated with Chinese-made vehicles, and staff have been told to refrain from talking about classified matters in all cars.
Safety Guidance for MoD Staff
In a recently aired interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to discuss classified information while travelling in Chinese cars.
He explained that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that security is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their car, to avoid having discussions at a classified level in any vehicle, because of the increasing risks of surveillance that are present in every single automobile, to restrict those confidential conversations in secure locations. That’s a wise and sensible thing for anyone worried about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using all cars from China, Pollard responded: That is exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Background
This announcement 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 enable China to switch off public transport and cause chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel has been shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
This broader security situation underscores the importance of robust measures and caution in all aspects of official operations, from transport usage to discussions practices.
