A defense official has confirmed that the MoD is currently investigating the potential threats posed by Chinese cars, while staff have been instructed to avoid talking about secret information in any cars.
Security Advice for MoD Staff
In a recent interview on LBC, a defence minister commented on reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to discuss classified information while riding in China-made vehicles.
He explained that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however stressed that safety is a issue in all contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a collection of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any kind of vehicle, because of the growing threats of surveillance that are present in every single vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in secure locations. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Defence Background
This revelation comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable China to disable buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel has been shining lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
This wider defence situation highlights the significance of robust measures and vigilance in every aspects of official operations, from transport usage to communication habits.
