A defence minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the potential threats posed by Chinese vehicles, and staff have been advised to refrain from talking about secret information in all vehicles.
Security Guidance for MoD Personnel
During a recent appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on reports that MoD staff have been told not to talk about classified material while riding in China-made cars.
He said that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but noted that safety is a issue in every contemporary cars.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a classified level in any car, because of the increasing threats of surveillance that are present in all automobile, to restrict those confidential talks in protected areas. This is a wise and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about security.
When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using all Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: That is precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Security Context
The revelation follows reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could allow China to disable buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel has been directing laser beams at RAF aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
The wider security environment highlights the importance of strong protocols and caution in all areas of government operations, including vehicle usage to communication practices.
