A defence minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently examining the possible threats posed by Chinese-made cars, and staff have been advised to refrain from talking about secret matters in all cars.
Security Advice for Defence Staff
During a recent appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD staff have been instructed not to talk about classified information while travelling in Chinese cars.
He said that the ministry is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however emphasised that safety is a concern in all modern cars.
Our department has a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their car, not to have conversations at a classified level in any kind of vehicle, due to the increasing threats of eavesdropping that are present in every single vehicle, to restrict those confidential talks in secure locations. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone worried about security.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using every Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Broader Defence Context
The announcement follows reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and bring disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
This broader defence environment underscores the significance of strong measures and caution in every areas of government operations, including transport use to communication habits.
