An defence official has stated that the MoD is actively investigating the potential security risks associated with Chinese vehicles, while staff have been instructed to refrain from discussing secret information in any cars.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to talk about classified information while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
The minister stated that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its fleets, but stressed that safety is a issue in all modern cars.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence 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 not to plug MoD devices into their car, to avoid having discussions at a secret classification in any vehicle, because of the growing threats of surveillance that are present in every single vehicle, to restrict those confidential talks in protected areas. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone worried about safety.
When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: That is precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Context
The revelation comes as 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 disruption to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining lasers at RAF aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
The wider defence situation highlights the significance of robust protocols and caution in every areas of official operations, including transport usage to communication practices.