An defence minister has stated that the MoD is currently investigating the possible threats associated with Chinese vehicles, while staff have been advised to avoid discussing secret information in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for Defence Personnel
In a recently aired interview on LBC, a defence minister commented on claims that MoD officials have been instructed not to discuss classified information while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
He explained that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but stressed that security is a concern in all contemporary cars.
Our department has a collection of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their car, to avoid having discussions at a classified level in any vehicle, because of the growing threats of surveillance that exist in all vehicle, to restrict those confidential conversations in protected areas. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Defence Background
The revelation follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly directing lasers at RAF pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
This wider security situation underscores the importance of robust measures and caution in every areas of official operations, including vehicle usage to discussions practices.
