A defence minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential threats associated with Chinese cars, and personnel have been told to refrain from discussing classified matters in any vehicles.
Security Guidance for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to talk about secret material while riding in Chinese cars.
He explained that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but stressed that safety is a concern in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
But 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 Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any vehicle, due to the growing risks of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to restrict those secret conversations 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 ministry to stop using all cars from China, the minister replied: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Security Background
The announcement comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could allow China to disable public transport and bring chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly directing lasers at RAF aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
This wider defence situation highlights the significance of strong protocols and vigilance in all areas of official activities, including transport usage to communication habits.
