A defence official has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the possible security risks posed by Chinese cars, while staff have been told to avoid discussing classified matters in all vehicles.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
During a recent interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed reports that MoD officials have been instructed not to discuss classified information while travelling in China-made vehicles.
The minister said that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that safety is a issue in every modern vehicles.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles account for a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their car, not to have discussions at a secret level in any car, due to the growing threats of surveillance that are present in all automobile, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. That’s a wise and sensible thing for anyone worried about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using all Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Defence Context
This revelation comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese electric buses, which could allow China to switch off buses and cause disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship was reportedly directing laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
The wider security situation underscores the significance of robust protocols and vigilance in all areas of official operations, including vehicle usage to communication habits.
