A defense official has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is currently investigating the potential security risks posed by Chinese cars, while staff have been told to refrain from discussing secret matters in all cars.
Safety Guidance for Defence Personnel
During a recent appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to discuss secret material while travelling in China-made cars.
He explained that the ministry is “examining” cars from China within its fleets, but stressed that security is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their car, not to have conversations at a secret level in any kind of car, because of the increasing threats of surveillance that exist in every single vehicle, to restrict those secret conversations in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for everyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: That is exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Broader Defence Background
This revelation comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off public transport and bring chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly shining lasers at RAF pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
This broader defence environment underscores the importance of robust measures and caution in every areas of official operations, including vehicle usage to communication habits.
