A defence official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese-made cars, while personnel have been instructed to refrain from talking about classified information in all vehicles.
Safety Guidance for MoD Staff
In a recently aired interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to discuss secret material while riding in China-made vehicles.
He explained that the MoD is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but stressed that safety is a issue in all modern vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
But whether 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, to avoid having discussions at a secret level in any car, because of the increasing threats of eavesdropping that exist in all automobile, to restrict those secret conversations in protected areas. This is a prudent and sensible thing for everyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using every cars from China, the minister responded: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Broader Defence Background
This announcement follows claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship was reportedly directing laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
This broader defence environment underscores the significance of strong protocols and caution in all aspects of official activities, including transport usage to discussions practices.
