A defence minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the potential threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, while personnel have been instructed to refrain from discussing secret information in all vehicles.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
In a recent interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to talk about classified material while travelling in China-made cars.
He explained that the MoD is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however noted that safety is a concern in all modern vehicles.
We have a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their car, to avoid having conversations at a secret level in any car, because of the increasing threats of surveillance that exist in all automobile, to restrict those secret talks in protected areas. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Security Context
This announcement comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off public transport and bring chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
This wider defence environment underscores the importance of strong protocols and caution in all aspects of government activities, including vehicle use to communication habits.
