A defense official has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the possible security risks posed by Chinese-made vehicles, and personnel have been told to avoid talking about secret information in any cars.
Safety Guidance for MoD Personnel
In a recent interview on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to talk about secret information while travelling in China-made vehicles.
The minister said that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its fleets, but stressed that security is a issue in every modern cars.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any kind of car, because of the growing risks of surveillance that exist in every single vehicle, to only have those confidential conversations in secure locations. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using every cars from China, the minister replied: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
The announcement follows claims from Scandinavian countries have warned the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and cause disruption to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF pilots, described as a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
The broader defence environment highlights the significance of robust measures and caution in all aspects of official operations, from vehicle use to communication practices.
