A defense minister has revealed that the MoD is currently examining the potential threats posed by Chinese-made cars, and personnel have been told to refrain from discussing secret information in any cars.
Security Guidance for Defence Staff
In a recent interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on claims that MoD officials have been told not to talk about secret information while riding in China-made vehicles.
He stated that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but stressed that security is a concern in every modern cars.
Our department has a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD devices into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a secret level in any kind of vehicle, due to the increasing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all automobile, to only have those confidential talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone worried about security.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using all Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Context
The revelation follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese buses, which could allow China to switch off public transport and cause chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
This broader security situation underscores the significance of strong protocols and vigilance in every areas of official operations, including transport usage to communication habits.
