An defence minister has confirmed that the MoD is actively looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese-made cars, and staff have been advised to avoid discussing classified matters in any vehicles.
Safety Advice for MoD Staff
In a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on claims that MoD officials have been told not to talk about classified information while riding in China-made vehicles.
The minister stated that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its fleets, but stressed that safety is a concern in all contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles represent a very small number.
However whether you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their car, not to have discussions at a classified level in any kind of vehicle, due to the increasing threats of eavesdropping that exist in all automobile, to restrict those secret conversations in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using every cars from China, the minister replied: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Security Background
The revelation comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow China to disable public transport and bring chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
This broader defence environment highlights the significance of strong protocols and caution in every areas of government operations, including transport use to communication habits.
