An defence official has confirmed that the MoD is currently looking into the potential threats associated with Chinese cars, while personnel have been instructed to avoid talking about secret information in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for MoD Staff
In a recently aired appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on reports that MoD officials have been instructed not to discuss secret material while riding in China-made cars.
He explained that the MoD is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that safety is a concern in all contemporary cars.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their car, to avoid having discussions at a classified level in any car, because of the increasing threats of eavesdropping that are present in every single vehicle, to restrict those confidential talks in secure locations. This is a wise and sensible thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using every cars from China, Pollard responded: That is exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Defence Context
This announcement follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow China to disable buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel has been directing lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
This broader security situation underscores the significance of strong measures and caution in every areas of government operations, from transport usage to communication practices.
