A defence official has revealed that the MoD is actively investigating the potential security risks associated with Chinese vehicles, and staff have been instructed to refrain from talking about secret matters in all cars.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
In a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on claims that MoD staff have been instructed not to discuss secret material while travelling in China-made cars.
The minister explained that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however noted that safety is a concern in every contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a secret level in any vehicle, due to the growing risks of surveillance that are present in every single vehicle, to only have those confidential conversations in secure locations. That’s a wise and sensible thing for everyone worried about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using all Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Security Background
The revelation follows reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
The wider security environment underscores the significance of strong protocols and caution in all areas of official operations, including transport use to communication habits.
