An defence official has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the potential security risks posed by Chinese-made cars, and staff have been told to avoid discussing secret information in any cars.
Safety Guidance for MoD Staff
In a recently aired appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on reports that MoD officials have been instructed not to talk about secret material while riding in Chinese vehicles.
The minister said that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its fleets, however stressed that safety is a concern in all modern cars.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
But whether you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any vehicle, because of the increasing threats of eavesdropping that exist in every single vehicle, to only have those secret talks in protected areas. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using every Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: That is precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Security Background
This announcement follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly directing laser beams at RAF aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
The wider defence situation underscores the significance of strong protocols and vigilance in all aspects of official operations, including transport use to communication habits.
