An defense minister has confirmed that the MoD is currently looking into the possible threats associated with Chinese-made cars, while personnel have been told to refrain from talking about classified matters in any cars.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
During a recent interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to talk about secret information while riding in China-made vehicles.
He stated that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however stressed that safety is a concern in every modern cars.
We have a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug MoD devices into their car, to avoid having discussions at a classified level in any kind of vehicle, because of the growing threats of surveillance that are present in every single vehicle, to only have those secret talks in protected areas. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone worried about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using all Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: That is precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Defence Context
The revelation comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable China to disable buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship has been directing lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
This wider defence environment highlights the importance of strong measures and caution in every areas of official operations, including transport usage to discussions practices.
