Government Official Says Ministry of Defence Investigating Potential Threat from Chinese Cars, with Staff Instructed to Avoid Confidential Discussions in Vehicles.
An defence minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the potential security risks associated with Chinese-made cars, while staff have been told to avoid talking about classified matters in all vehicles.
Security Guidance for MoD Personnel
In a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to talk about secret material while travelling in China-made vehicles.
He stated that the MoD is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however emphasised that safety is a concern in all modern vehicles.
We have a collection of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re driving a vehicle from China or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our people is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a secret level in any vehicle, because of the growing risks of surveillance that exist in all automobile, to only have those secret talks in secure locations. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using every cars from China, the minister responded: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Security Background
This revelation comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could enable China to switch off buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship was reportedly directing laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
The broader defence environment underscores the importance of strong protocols and vigilance in every areas of official operations, including vehicle use to communication practices.
