An defense minister has confirmed that the MoD is currently examining the potential threats posed by Chinese vehicles, and personnel have been told to refrain from talking about secret matters in all cars.
Safety Guidance 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 material while riding in China-made cars.
He said that the ministry is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but noted that safety is a concern in all contemporary vehicles.
We have a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a secret classification in any kind of vehicle, because of the growing risks of eavesdropping that are present in every single vehicle, to only have those secret talks in protected areas. This is a wise and sensible thing for anyone concerned about safety.
When it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using all cars from China, Pollard replied: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Security Context
The announcement follows claims from Scandinavian countries have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel has been directing lasers at RAF aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
This wider defence situation underscores the importance of strong protocols and caution in every areas of government operations, from transport use to discussions habits.
