A defense minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the possible threats associated with Chinese-made vehicles, while personnel have been advised to avoid talking about secret information in all vehicles.
Security Guidance for Defence Personnel
During a recent interview on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on reports that MoD officials have been told not to talk about secret material while travelling in Chinese cars.
He stated that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but stressed that safety is a concern in every modern vehicles.
We have a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a secret classification in any kind of car, because of the growing risks of surveillance that are present in all vehicle, to restrict those confidential conversations in secure locations. That’s a wise and sensible thing for anyone worried about security.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using all Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Security Background
This revelation follows reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could allow China to disable public transport and cause chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
This wider security environment highlights the significance of strong measures and vigilance in all areas of official operations, including transport usage to communication practices.
