A defense official has revealed that the MoD is actively investigating the potential threats posed by Chinese-made cars, and staff have been instructed to refrain from talking about classified matters in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for Defence Personnel
In a recent interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD staff have been told not to discuss classified material while travelling in China-made cars.
He stated that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but stressed that safety is a concern in every modern cars.
Our department has a collection of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a very small number.
However whether you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence technology into their car, to avoid having conversations at a secret level in any car, due to the increasing threats of eavesdropping that are present in every single vehicle, to only have those secret talks in secure locations. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using all cars from China, the minister replied: That is precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
This announcement comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow China to disable buses and cause disruption to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly directing lasers at RAF aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
This broader defence situation underscores the importance of robust measures and vigilance in all aspects of government activities, from vehicle use to communication practices.
