A defence minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the possible security risks posed by Chinese vehicles, while staff have been told to avoid discussing classified information in all cars.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD staff have been instructed not to discuss secret information while travelling in China-made vehicles.
The minister said that the ministry is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but noted that safety is a concern in every modern cars.
Our department has a collection of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a classified classification in any kind of vehicle, because of the growing risks of surveillance that exist in every single vehicle, to restrict those secret conversations in secure locations. This is a wise and reasonable thing for everyone worried about safety.
When it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using all cars from China, the minister responded: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Security Context
This revelation follows reports from Scandinavian countries have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could allow China to disable buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly directing laser beams at RAF pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
This broader security situation underscores the importance of robust measures and caution in all aspects of government operations, including vehicle usage to communication habits.
