An defence minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the potential threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, and staff have been advised to avoid talking about secret information in any cars.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
During a recently aired appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to discuss classified material while travelling in Chinese cars.
He stated that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but noted that safety is a issue in all contemporary cars.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret level in any vehicle, because of the increasing threats of surveillance that exist in all vehicle, to restrict those secret talks in secure locations. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using all cars from China, Pollard replied: That is exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Defence Context
The announcement follows claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow China to switch off public transport and cause chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel has been directing lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
This broader security environment highlights the importance of robust protocols and caution in every aspects of official activities, including vehicle usage to discussions practices.
