A defence official has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently examining the potential threats posed by Chinese cars, while staff have been told to refrain from talking about secret information in all vehicles.
Security Advice for Defence Personnel
In a recent interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD officials have been told not to discuss secret information while travelling in China-made cars.
The minister explained that the MoD is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, however noted that safety is a concern in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a collection of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their car, to avoid having discussions at a classified level in any kind of vehicle, due to the increasing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to only have those confidential conversations in protected areas. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using all Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Security Context
The revelation follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable buses and cause chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship has been shining laser beams at RAF pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
The wider security situation underscores the importance of robust protocols and vigilance in every aspects of official operations, from transport use to discussions habits.
