An defence official has revealed that the MoD is actively examining the possible threats associated with Chinese vehicles, while staff have been told to refrain from discussing classified information in any vehicles.
Security Guidance for Defence Personnel
During a recent interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to discuss secret material while travelling in Chinese cars.
He said that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its fleets, but noted that security is a issue in all modern cars.
We have a collection of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD devices into their car, not to have conversations at a secret level in any car, due to the growing risks of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to only have those secret talks in protected areas. That’s a wise and sensible thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using all cars from China, Pollard responded: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Broader Security Context
This revelation comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly directing laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
The wider security environment underscores the importance of robust protocols and vigilance in all areas of government operations, including transport usage to discussions practices.
