A defense official has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently examining the potential threats posed by Chinese vehicles, while staff have been advised to avoid discussing secret matters in all cars.
Safety Advice for MoD Staff
During a recently aired interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed claims that MoD officials have been told not to talk about secret information while riding in China-made vehicles.
He said that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however noted that safety is a concern in every contemporary cars.
We have a collection of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
But whether you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their car, not to have conversations at a classified level in any car, due to the increasing risks of surveillance that exist in every single vehicle, to only have those secret talks in protected areas. That’s a wise and sensible thing for everyone concerned about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
The revelation follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese buses, which could enable China to disable buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel has been shining laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
The wider security environment highlights the importance of strong protocols and vigilance in all areas of official activities, including transport use to discussions habits.
