A defence official has revealed that the MoD is currently investigating the potential threats posed by Chinese cars, while staff have been instructed to avoid discussing secret matters in any vehicles.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
In a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to talk about secret material while riding in China-made vehicles.
He said that the MoD is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but stressed that safety is a concern in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
However whether you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their car, not to have discussions at a classified level in any car, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in every single automobile, to restrict those confidential talks in secure locations. This is a wise and sensible thing for everyone concerned about safety.
After it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using every cars from China, Pollard responded: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Security Context
The revelation follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could enable China to disable buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly directing lasers at RAF pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
The wider security environment underscores the importance of robust protocols and caution in every areas of official operations, including vehicle usage to discussions habits.
