An defence official has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is currently investigating the potential threats associated with Chinese-made vehicles, while personnel have been advised to refrain from talking about classified information in any cars.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
In a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed reports that MoD officials have been told not to discuss classified information while travelling in China-made cars.
He explained that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that safety is a concern in all contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their car, not to have discussions at a secret classification in any kind of car, due to the increasing risks of surveillance that exist in all automobile, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about safety.
When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using every cars from China, the minister replied: That is precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Broader Defence Background
This announcement follows claims from Scandinavian countries have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly directing lasers at RAF pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
This broader security situation highlights the significance of robust protocols and vigilance in every aspects of official operations, including vehicle use to discussions habits.
