An defense minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the possible security risks associated with Chinese vehicles, while staff have been told to avoid talking about secret information in any vehicles.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to talk about classified material while riding in Chinese cars.
He said that the ministry is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but noted that safety is a concern in all contemporary cars.
We have a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
But whether you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug MoD devices into their car, to avoid having discussions at a classified level in any vehicle, because of the increasing risks of surveillance that exist in all vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: That is exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Defence Context
The announcement follows reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese buses, which could allow China to disable public transport and cause disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship was reportedly directing lasers at RAF aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” action by government representatives.
This wider security environment underscores the importance of strong measures and caution in every areas of government activities, including transport use to discussions habits.
