A defence official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the possible security risks posed by Chinese cars, while personnel have been instructed to refrain from discussing secret information in any vehicles.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired appearance on a radio station, a defence minister commented on reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to talk about secret information while riding in Chinese cars.
He said that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but noted that safety is a issue in all modern cars.
Our department has a collection of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their car, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any kind of car, due to the increasing threats of surveillance that exist in every single vehicle, to restrict those confidential talks in protected areas. This is a wise and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Defence Context
This revelation follows reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could allow China to disable public transport and cause chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
The wider defence environment highlights the significance of strong protocols and caution in every areas of official operations, from transport usage to discussions practices.
