An defense official has revealed that the MoD is actively investigating the potential security risks posed by Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been instructed to refrain from talking about classified matters in all cars.
Safety Guidance for MoD Personnel
In a recently aired appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed reports that MoD officials have been told not to discuss secret material while travelling in China-made cars.
The minister stated that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however emphasised that security is a issue in every modern vehicles.
We have a collection of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any kind of vehicle, due to the growing risks of surveillance that exist in all vehicle, to only have those confidential talks in protected areas. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone worried about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using all cars from China, Pollard responded: That is precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
This announcement follows claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese buses, which could enable China to disable buses and bring disruption to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel has been directing lasers at RAF aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
The wider security situation underscores the significance of robust measures and caution in all areas of official operations, including vehicle usage to communication practices.
