A defense minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the potential threats associated with Chinese cars, and personnel have been instructed to avoid talking about classified matters in all cars.
Security Guidance for MoD Staff
In a recent interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on claims that MoD officials have been told not to talk about classified material while travelling in China-made cars.
He said that the ministry is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however noted that security is a concern in all modern vehicles.
We have 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 vehicle from China or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their car, not to have conversations at a classified level in any car, due to the increasing threats of eavesdropping that exist in every single vehicle, to restrict those secret talks in protected areas. This is a wise and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using all cars from China, Pollard responded: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Defence Context
The announcement comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable public transport and cause chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “extremely risky” action by government representatives.
The broader defence environment highlights the importance of strong protocols and vigilance in all aspects of government operations, including transport usage to communication practices.
