A defense minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the possible threats posed by Chinese cars, and staff have been instructed to refrain from talking about classified matters in all vehicles.
Safety Guidance for Defence Personnel
During a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on reports that MoD officials have been told not to discuss classified material while riding in China-made vehicles.
The minister stated that the MoD is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but noted that safety is a concern in every modern vehicles.
We have a fleet of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret level in any vehicle, due to the increasing threats of surveillance that are present in all vehicle, to only have those secret talks in secure locations. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for everyone worried about safety.
When it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using every cars from China, the minister replied: That is exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Broader Security Background
The revelation comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could allow China to disable buses and cause chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
This wider defence situation underscores the significance of strong protocols and caution in every areas of government activities, including vehicle use to communication habits.
