An defence official has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the possible security risks posed by Chinese-made cars, and personnel have been instructed to avoid talking about classified information in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for Defence Personnel
In a recent interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed reports that MoD staff have been told not to talk about classified material while travelling in China-made vehicles.
He stated that the ministry is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but stressed that safety is a issue in every modern vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD devices into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a classified classification in any car, due to the growing risks of surveillance that exist in all vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in secure locations. This is a prudent and sensible thing for everyone concerned about security.
After it was put to him that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using every cars from China, Pollard replied: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Defence Background
The revelation comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow China to disable public transport and cause chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.
This broader security situation underscores the significance of strong measures and vigilance in all aspects of government operations, from transport usage to communication habits.
