A defence official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently examining the possible threats associated with Chinese-made cars, and staff have been advised to refrain from talking about classified information in all vehicles.
Safety Guidance for MoD Staff
In a recent appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to talk about classified material while travelling in China-made vehicles.
He said that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that security is a issue in all contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any vehicle, because of the growing risks of eavesdropping that exist in all automobile, to only have those confidential talks in secure locations. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using all cars from China, Pollard responded: That is exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Defence Context
This announcement follows claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could enable China to disable public transport and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship has been shining lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
The broader defence situation highlights the significance of robust measures and caution in every aspects of official activities, from transport use to communication habits.
