An defense minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently investigating the potential threats posed by Chinese-made cars, while personnel have been told to refrain from discussing secret matters in any cars.
Security Advice for Defence Personnel
During a recently aired interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to talk about secret information while riding in Chinese vehicles.
He stated that the ministry is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that safety is a issue in all contemporary cars.
We have a fleet 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, what we’ve asked our staff is not to plug MoD devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a classified classification in any kind of vehicle, because of the increasing threats of surveillance that are present in all vehicle, to restrict those secret conversations in secure locations. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for everyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using every cars from China, Pollard responded: That is exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Context
This announcement comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese buses, which could allow China to disable buses and cause chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
This broader defence environment underscores the significance of robust protocols and vigilance in all aspects of official activities, including transport use to discussions practices.
