A defense minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the potential security risks posed by Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been advised to refrain from discussing secret information in any cars.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
During a recent appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to discuss secret material while riding in China-made vehicles.
The minister explained that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its fleets, however noted that safety is a concern in every contemporary cars.
We have a collection of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a secret level in any vehicle, due to the growing risks of surveillance that are present in all automobile, to only have those confidential conversations in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using all cars from China, Pollard replied: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
This revelation follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel has been shining laser beams at RAF pilots, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
This wider defence environment highlights the importance of robust protocols and vigilance in every aspects of official operations, from vehicle use to communication practices.
