A defense official has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the possible security risks associated with Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been told to refrain from discussing classified matters in any cars.
Security Advice for Defence Staff
In a recent appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD officials have been told not to discuss secret information while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
The minister stated that the MoD is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however emphasised that security is a concern in every contemporary cars.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
But 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, not to have discussions at a secret classification in any vehicle, due to the growing risks of eavesdropping that are present in all automobile, to restrict those secret conversations in secure locations. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about security.
When it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using every cars from China, the minister replied: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Security Context
This announcement comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel has been shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
The broader defence environment highlights the importance of robust protocols and caution in every aspects of government activities, including transport usage to communication habits.
