An defence official has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the possible threats posed by Chinese vehicles, and personnel have been advised to avoid talking about classified information in all cars.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
In a recent interview on LBC, a defence minister commented on claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to discuss secret information while riding in China-made cars.
He explained that the ministry is “examining” cars from China within its fleets, but emphasised that security is a issue in all modern cars.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD devices into their car, not to have discussions at a classified classification in any car, due to the growing risks of eavesdropping that exist in all vehicle, to only have those confidential talks in protected areas. That’s a wise and sensible thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Defence Background
This announcement follows 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 the Chinese government to disable buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF pilots, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
This broader defence situation highlights the importance of strong protocols and caution in every areas of government activities, including transport usage to communication practices.
