A defense minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese vehicles, while staff have been advised to refrain from talking about classified information in all cars.
Safety Guidance for Defence Personnel
In a recent appearance on LBC, a defence minister addressed reports that MoD officials have been instructed not to discuss secret information while travelling in Chinese cars.
He said that the ministry is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but noted that safety is a issue in all modern cars.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
But whether you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their car, not to have discussions at a classified level in any car, due to the growing threats of surveillance that exist in all automobile, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. This is a prudent and sensible thing for everyone concerned about safety.
After it was put to him that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Defence Context
The announcement comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
This broader security situation underscores the importance of strong protocols and vigilance in every areas of government activities, including vehicle usage to discussions practices.
