A defense minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the possible threats associated with Chinese cars, and personnel have been instructed to refrain from talking about secret information in all cars.
Safety Guidance for MoD Personnel
In a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to discuss classified information while travelling in China-made cars.
The minister stated that the ministry is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that safety is a concern in every modern vehicles.
Our department has a collection of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
However whether you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their car, not to have discussions at a secret level in any car, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to only have those confidential talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using every cars from China, the minister replied: That is precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Defence Context
This revelation comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could enable China to switch off buses and cause chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship has been directing lasers at RAF aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” action by government representatives.
The wider security environment underscores the significance of strong protocols and vigilance in every aspects of government activities, from vehicle usage to discussions habits.
