A defense official has confirmed that the MoD is currently looking into the possible threats associated with Chinese cars, and staff have been told to refrain from talking about classified information in any cars.
Safety Advice for MoD Staff
During a recently aired appearance on LBC, a defence minister commented on reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to discuss secret information while travelling in China-made cars.
The minister explained that the MoD is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, however emphasised that security is a issue in every modern cars.
Our department has a collection of tens 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 vehicle from China 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 secret level in any vehicle, because of the increasing risks of eavesdropping that exist in every single vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. That’s a wise and sensible thing for everyone worried about safety.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using all cars from China, Pollard responded: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Security Context
This announcement comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have warned the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow China to disable buses and bring disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship has been directing lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
This wider security environment underscores the importance of strong measures and vigilance in all aspects of official activities, including transport usage to discussions habits.
