An defense official has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the potential security risks associated with Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been instructed to refrain from talking about classified matters in all cars.
Safety Advice for Defence Staff
During a recently aired interview on a radio station, a defence minister commented on reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to discuss classified material while riding in China-made cars.
The minister said that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but noted that security is a concern in every modern cars.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their car, to avoid having discussions at a secret level in any kind of vehicle, due to the growing risks of surveillance that exist in every single automobile, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. This is a prudent and sensible thing for everyone concerned about safety.
When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Broader Defence Context
This announcement follows claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable buses and cause disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly shining lasers at RAF pilots, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
The broader security situation underscores the importance of robust measures and caution in every aspects of official operations, from transport use to discussions practices.
