A defense minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the possible threats associated with Chinese-made vehicles, while personnel have been advised to refrain from talking about classified matters in all cars.
Safety Advice for Defence Staff
In a recently aired appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to talk about classified information while riding in China-made cars.
He said that the ministry is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however stressed that security is a concern in all modern cars.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a classified level in any kind of car, because of the increasing threats of eavesdropping that exist in all vehicle, to only have those confidential conversations in secure locations. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about security.
When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using all Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Defence Context
This revelation comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could allow China to switch off public transport and bring disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly directing laser beams at RAF aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
The wider defence environment highlights the significance of robust measures and caution in all aspects of official operations, including transport use to discussions habits.
