Minister Says MoD Investigating Potential Threat from Chinese Cars, as Personnel Advised to Refrain from Secret Talk in Cars.
A defence official has stated that the MoD is actively looking into the possible threats associated with Chinese cars, and personnel have been instructed to avoid talking about secret matters in all cars.
Security Guidance for Defence Staff
In a recent appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to talk about secret material while travelling in China-made vehicles.
He stated that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however emphasised that safety is a concern in all modern cars.
Our department has a collection of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a secret level in any kind of car, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that exist in all vehicle, to only have those confidential talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: That is exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Defence Background
The announcement follows claims from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could enable China to switch off buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
This wider security environment highlights the importance of robust protocols and caution in every areas of government activities, including transport usage to communication habits.
