A defence official has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese-made cars, while staff have been told to avoid discussing classified matters in all vehicles.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
In a recent appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD staff have been instructed not to discuss secret information while travelling in Chinese cars.
The minister explained that the ministry is “investigating” cars from China within its fleets, but emphasised that safety is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their car, not to have conversations at a classified level in any vehicle, due to the growing risks of surveillance that exist in all vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone worried about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using all Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Security Context
This revelation follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable public transport and bring disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel has been directing lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
The wider security situation underscores the significance of robust measures and caution in all aspects of official operations, from transport use to discussions habits.
