A defence minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been advised to refrain from talking about classified matters in any vehicles.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to discuss classified information while riding in China-made cars.
The minister explained that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its fleets, however noted that safety is a issue in every modern cars.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
But whether you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a classified level in any kind of car, due to the growing risks of surveillance that are present in all automobile, to only have those secret talks in secure locations. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone worried about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using all cars from China, the minister responded: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Defence Context
The announcement comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could enable China to disable buses and cause chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
The wider security environment highlights the significance of robust measures and vigilance in all areas of government activities, including vehicle use to communication habits.
