A defense minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the potential threats posed by Chinese vehicles, and personnel have been advised to avoid talking about secret information in all cars.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
During a recent appearance on a radio station, a defence minister addressed claims that MoD officials have been instructed not to talk about classified material while riding in Chinese cars.
He explained that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however noted that security is a issue in every contemporary cars.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a secret level in any car, due to the growing risks of surveillance that are present in all automobile, to only have those confidential conversations in secure locations. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for anyone worried about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
The revelation follows reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable buses and bring disruption to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship has been shining lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
The broader security situation underscores the importance of robust protocols and caution in every areas of official operations, including transport usage to discussions practices.
