A defence official has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently examining the potential threats posed by Chinese cars, while staff have been advised to avoid discussing classified information in any cars.
Safety Advice for Defence Staff
In a recent interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD staff have been instructed not to talk about secret material while riding in Chinese cars.
The minister said that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that safety is a concern in all modern cars.
Our department has a collection of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles represent a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their car, not to have conversations at a secret level in any car, due to the growing risks of surveillance that exist in all vehicle, to only have those secret talks in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for anyone worried about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using every cars from China, Pollard responded: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Broader Defence Context
The revelation comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could enable China to disable public transport and cause chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel has been shining laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
The wider security situation underscores the significance of robust protocols and vigilance in every aspects of government operations, from transport usage to communication habits.
