A defense minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been advised to refrain from talking about secret information in all cars.
Security Advice for Defence Personnel
During a recent appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to talk about secret information while riding in Chinese cars.
He stated that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that security is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles represent a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any vehicle, due to the growing threats of surveillance that are present in every single automobile, to only have those confidential talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using all Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Defence Context
The revelation comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring disruption to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship has been shining lasers at RAF aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
This wider security environment underscores the significance of strong measures and caution in every areas of government activities, from transport usage to discussions habits.
