A defence official has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently examining the possible security risks posed by Chinese vehicles, while personnel have been told to avoid talking about classified information in all vehicles.
Safety Advice for Defence Personnel
In a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on reports that MoD staff 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 emphasised that safety is a concern in all modern vehicles.
Our department has 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 driving a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their car, to avoid having discussions at a secret classification in any vehicle, due to the growing threats of surveillance that are present in all automobile, to only have those secret conversations in protected areas. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using every cars from China, Pollard replied: That is precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Broader Security Background
This revelation comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have warned the United Kingdom to the presence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable public transport and cause disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
The wider defence environment highlights the importance of robust protocols and vigilance in every aspects of government operations, from vehicle usage to discussions habits.
