A defence minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential threats associated with Chinese-made cars, while staff have been advised to avoid discussing secret information in all cars.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired appearance on LBC, a defence minister commented on claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to talk about classified material while travelling in China-made vehicles.
He explained that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its fleets, however noted that security is a concern in every contemporary cars.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a classified classification in any kind of vehicle, due to the increasing threats of eavesdropping that exist in every single automobile, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for everyone concerned about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Security Background
The announcement comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could enable China to disable buses and cause disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly directing lasers at RAF aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
The wider defence situation underscores the importance of robust measures and caution in every areas of official operations, including vehicle usage to discussions practices.
