A defence minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is currently investigating the potential security risks posed by Chinese-made vehicles, and staff have been instructed to avoid discussing secret information in all vehicles.
Safety Guidance for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired interview on a radio station, a defence minister commented on claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to discuss classified information while riding in China-made vehicles.
He explained that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however emphasised that safety is a concern in all modern vehicles.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their car, not to have discussions at a classified level in any vehicle, due to the growing threats of surveillance that exist in every single vehicle, to only have those secret talks in secure locations. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for everyone worried about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Defence Background
The announcement follows claims from Scandinavian countries have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off public transport and cause disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
This wider defence environment underscores the importance of robust measures and caution in all areas of government operations, from transport use to communication habits.
