A defense minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the possible threats associated with Chinese-made cars, while personnel have been instructed to refrain from talking about secret matters in any vehicles.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired appearance on LBC, a defence minister addressed claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to discuss secret information while travelling in China-made cars.
He said that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but noted that safety is a issue in all modern cars.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
But whether you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD technology into their car, to avoid having discussions at a secret level in any kind of car, because of the increasing risks of eavesdropping that exist in every single vehicle, to restrict those confidential conversations in secure locations. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for everyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: That is precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Defence Context
The announcement follows reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off public transport and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
This broader security environment highlights the importance of robust protocols and caution in every aspects of official activities, including vehicle use to communication habits.
