A defense minister has revealed that the MoD is actively looking into the possible security risks associated with Chinese cars, and staff have been told to refrain from talking about classified matters in any cars.
Safety Guidance for Defence Personnel
In a recent interview on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to discuss secret information while riding in China-made vehicles.
The minister explained that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however noted that security is a issue in every modern cars.
Our department has a collection of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their car, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any car, because of the increasing risks of eavesdropping that are present in all automobile, to restrict those confidential conversations in secure locations. That’s a wise and sensible thing for everyone worried about security.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Defence Context
The revelation follows claims from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable public transport and cause chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” action by government representatives.
This broader defence situation underscores the importance of strong measures and caution in every aspects of official activities, including vehicle use to communication habits.
