Government Official Says MoD Examining Potential Threat from Vehicles from China, with Personnel Told to Refrain from Confidential Discussions in Cars.
A defense minister has revealed that the MoD is actively examining the potential threats posed by Chinese vehicles, and staff have been told to avoid talking about classified matters in any cars.
Safety Advice for Defence Staff
During a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on reports that MoD officials have been told not to talk about classified material while travelling in China-made vehicles.
He explained that the ministry is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but stressed that security is a issue in all modern cars.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their car, to avoid having discussions at a classified level in any kind of car, due to the growing risks of eavesdropping that are present in every single automobile, to restrict those confidential talks in secure locations. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using every Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: That is exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Security Context
This revelation follows reports from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese buses, which could enable the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at RAF pilots, described as a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
The wider defence environment underscores the importance of robust protocols and vigilance in all areas of official operations, from transport use to communication practices.
