An defence minister has stated that the MoD is actively examining the potential security risks associated with Chinese vehicles, while personnel have been instructed to avoid talking about secret matters in all vehicles.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
In a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed reports that MoD officials have been told not to talk about classified material while travelling in China-made cars.
The minister stated that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its fleets, but noted that safety is a concern in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any kind of vehicle, due to the growing risks of surveillance that are present in every single automobile, to restrict those secret talks in protected areas. This is a wise and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about safety.
After it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using all cars from China, the minister replied: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Security Context
The revelation comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese electric buses, which could allow China to switch off buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel has been shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
The wider defence situation underscores the significance of robust protocols and vigilance in all areas of official activities, including transport use to communication practices.
