An defense minister has confirmed that the MoD is currently looking into the potential threats associated with Chinese-made vehicles, and personnel have been instructed to avoid discussing classified information in any vehicles.
Security Advice for Defence Staff
During a recent interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to talk about secret material while travelling in Chinese cars.
The minister said that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however noted that security is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug MoD devices into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a secret level in any car, because of the increasing threats of surveillance that are present in all automobile, to restrict those confidential talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for anyone worried about security.
When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Defence Background
The announcement comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly directing lasers at RAF aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” action by government representatives.
This wider defence situation highlights the importance of robust protocols and caution in every aspects of official activities, including transport usage to communication practices.
