Government Official States MoD Investigating Potential Threat from Chinese Cars, as Staff Instructed to Avoid Confidential Discussions in Vehicles.
A defence official has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the potential security risks associated with Chinese-made vehicles, and personnel have been told to refrain from discussing classified matters in any vehicles.
Safety Advice for Defence Staff
During a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to talk about classified information while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
He stated that the MoD is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but emphasised that security is a issue in every modern cars.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
But whether you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any car, due to the increasing risks of surveillance that exist in all vehicle, to restrict those confidential talks in secure locations. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using every cars from China, Pollard replied: That is precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Defence Context
The revelation follows reports from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship was reportedly directing laser beams at RAF aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
The wider defence environment highlights the importance of strong measures and vigilance in every aspects of government operations, from vehicle use to communication habits.
