An defence official has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese cars, and staff have been told to avoid discussing secret information in any cars.
Security Guidance for MoD Staff
In a recently aired interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed reports that MoD officials have been instructed not to talk about classified material while riding in China-made cars.
He explained that the MoD is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, however stressed that security is a issue in every modern cars.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their car, not to have conversations at a classified level in any kind of car, because of the growing threats of surveillance that exist in all vehicle, to restrict those secret conversations in secure locations. This is a wise and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using every cars from China, Pollard replied: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Broader Defence Background
This revelation comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese buses, which could allow China to disable public transport and cause chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
This broader security environment highlights the significance of strong measures and vigilance in every areas of government operations, including vehicle usage to communication practices.
