A defence minister has revealed that the MoD is actively examining the potential threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, and personnel have been advised to refrain from talking about secret information in any cars.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
In a recently aired interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to talk about classified material while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
He said that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that safety is a issue in every modern cars.
We have a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles account for a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our staff is not to plug MoD technology into their car, not to have discussions at a classified level in any kind of car, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all automobile, to only have those confidential talks in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for everyone worried about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using every cars from China, Pollard responded: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
This revelation follows claims from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable China to disable buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship has been directing lasers at RAF pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
The wider defence situation highlights the importance of strong measures and vigilance in all areas of government operations, from transport use to communication practices.
