An defence minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential security risks associated with Chinese-made vehicles, and staff have been instructed to avoid talking about secret information in any cars.
Safety Guidance for MoD Personnel
In a recent interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD staff have been instructed not to talk about secret information while riding in China-made vehicles.
He stated that the ministry is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, however emphasised that security is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their car, not to have conversations at a classified level in any vehicle, because of the growing threats of surveillance that exist in all vehicle, to only have those confidential conversations in protected areas. This is a wise and reasonable thing for anyone worried about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using every Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
This revelation follows reports from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese electric buses, which could allow China to disable public transport and bring disruption to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
This broader security situation highlights the significance of strong measures and caution in every aspects of government activities, from vehicle usage to discussions practices.
