An defense official has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the potential threats posed by Chinese-made cars, while personnel have been told to avoid discussing classified matters in all vehicles.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
In a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD staff have been told not to talk about secret material while travelling in China-made cars.
The minister said that the ministry is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however noted that safety is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD devices into their car, not to have discussions at a classified classification in any kind of vehicle, due to the increasing risks of eavesdropping that are present in every single automobile, to restrict those secret talks in secure locations. This is a wise and reasonable thing for anyone worried about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using every cars from China, Pollard responded: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Defence Background
This announcement follows reports from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable China to disable buses and cause chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship has been shining lasers at RAF pilots, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
This broader defence situation underscores the importance of strong protocols and caution in every areas of government activities, including vehicle usage to communication habits.
