A defense official has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is currently examining the potential threats posed by Chinese cars, while staff have been instructed to avoid talking about secret matters in all cars.
Safety Guidance for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired interview on LBC, a defence minister addressed reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to discuss secret material while travelling in Chinese cars.
He said that the MoD is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that safety is a concern in all modern vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a secret level in any kind of vehicle, due to the growing threats of surveillance that exist in every single automobile, to only have those confidential talks in secure locations. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone worried about safety.
After it was put to him that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Broader Security Context
This announcement follows reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable China to switch off buses and cause chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship has been shining lasers at RAF pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
The broader defence situation highlights the importance of strong protocols and vigilance in all areas of government operations, including transport usage to discussions habits.
