An defence minister has stated that the MoD is currently looking into the potential security risks posed by Chinese-made cars, while personnel have been instructed to refrain from talking about classified information in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
In a recently aired appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to discuss classified information while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
The minister said that the MoD is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however noted that security is a concern in all modern vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
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 devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any kind of vehicle, because of the growing risks of surveillance that are present in every single vehicle, to restrict those secret conversations in protected areas. This is a wise and reasonable thing for anyone worried about safety.
When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
This revelation follows claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could enable China to switch off buses and cause chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
The wider defence environment underscores the importance of robust measures and caution in every areas of official operations, including transport usage to discussions practices.
