An defence minister has confirmed that the MoD is actively examining the potential security risks posed by Chinese vehicles, while personnel have been advised to avoid discussing secret information in all cars.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
In a recent interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to discuss classified information while riding in Chinese cars.
The minister stated that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its fleets, but noted 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.
But whether you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any kind of car, because of the growing risks of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to only have those confidential conversations in secure locations. This is a wise and sensible thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using every cars from China, the minister replied: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Defence Background
The revelation comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at RAF aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” action by government representatives.
This wider defence environment underscores the significance of robust measures and caution in every areas of government activities, including transport use to communication practices.
