An defense official has revealed that the MoD is currently examining the possible threats associated with Chinese vehicles, and personnel have been advised to avoid discussing classified information in all cars.
Safety Advice for Defence Staff
During a recent interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed reports that MoD officials have been instructed not to discuss secret information while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
He explained that the ministry is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but emphasised that security is a issue in every modern vehicles.
We have a collection of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their car, to avoid having discussions at a classified level in any vehicle, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that exist in every single automobile, to restrict those confidential talks in protected areas. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using every cars from China, Pollard responded: That is exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Security Background
The announcement follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable public transport and cause chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
This broader security environment underscores the importance of strong measures and vigilance in all areas of official activities, from transport use to discussions practices.
