An defence minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the possible threats associated with Chinese cars, while staff have been told to avoid talking about classified matters in all vehicles.
Safety Advice for Defence Staff
During a recent appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to talk about secret information while travelling in Chinese cars.
He stated that the ministry is “examining” cars from China within its fleets, but emphasised that safety is a issue in all modern cars.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles represent a very small number.
But 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 technology into their vehicle, to avoid having discussions at a secret level in any car, due to the growing risks of eavesdropping that exist in all vehicle, to only have those confidential conversations in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for anyone worried about security.
When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using all cars from China, the minister replied: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Defence Context
The announcement comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off buses and cause disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship has been shining lasers at RAF pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
The wider defence situation highlights the importance of robust protocols and caution in every areas of government activities, from vehicle usage to discussions practices.
