An defence minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the possible security risks associated with Chinese-made cars, and staff have been told to avoid talking about classified information in all cars.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
During a recently aired appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to talk about classified material while riding in Chinese vehicles.
The minister said that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however emphasised that safety is a concern in all contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a collection 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 Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any car, due to the growing threats of surveillance that exist in every single automobile, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about safety.
When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using all cars from China, the minister replied: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Defence Context
This announcement follows claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable public transport and bring disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
The wider defence environment highlights the significance of strong protocols and caution in every aspects of government activities, including vehicle use to discussions habits.
