A defence official has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the possible security risks posed by Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been advised to avoid talking about secret information in all vehicles.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
In a recent interview on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to discuss classified information while travelling in China-made cars.
The minister said that the MoD is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however noted that safety is a concern in all contemporary vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is to avoid connecting MoD devices into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a classified classification in any car, because of the increasing risks of surveillance that are present in every single vehicle, to only have those secret talks in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for everyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using all cars from China, Pollard replied: That is precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Broader Security Context
This announcement follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow China to disable buses and bring disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel has been directing laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
The wider defence environment highlights the importance of strong measures and vigilance in every aspects of government activities, from vehicle use to discussions practices.
