An defense minister has confirmed that the MoD is actively looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, and personnel have been told to refrain from talking about classified matters in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for Defence Personnel
In a recent interview on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to talk about secret material while riding in China-made vehicles.
The minister explained that the ministry is “examining” cars from China within its fleets, however stressed that safety is a concern in all modern vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD devices into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a classified classification in any vehicle, because of the increasing threats of surveillance that are present in all vehicle, to restrict those secret conversations in secure locations. This is a wise and sensible thing for anyone worried about safety.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using all cars from China, Pollard replied: That is precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
This announcement 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 disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining lasers at RAF aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” action by government representatives.
The wider security situation highlights the significance of robust protocols and vigilance in every areas of government activities, including transport usage to communication habits.
