A defence official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently investigating the possible security risks posed by Chinese cars, while personnel have been advised to avoid discussing secret information in any cars.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
During a recent appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to talk about secret information while riding in China-made vehicles.
The minister said that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that safety is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a collection of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a classified level in any kind of car, due to the growing risks of surveillance that exist in all automobile, to only have those secret conversations in secure locations. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using all cars from China, the minister replied: ‘That’s precisely 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 multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could enable China to disable public transport and cause disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship has been shining laser beams at RAF pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
This wider defence environment underscores the importance of robust protocols and vigilance in all areas of government operations, including transport use to communication practices.
