A defence official has revealed that the MoD is actively examining the potential threats posed by Chinese cars, and staff have been advised to avoid talking about classified matters in all cars.
Security Advice for Defence Staff
In a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to discuss classified information while riding in Chinese vehicles.
The minister explained that the MoD is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however stressed that safety is a concern in every modern vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
But regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a secret classification in any car, due to the growing threats of surveillance that are present in every single vehicle, to restrict those secret conversations in protected areas. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: That is exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Broader Defence Context
This revelation comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable public transport and cause chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
The wider defence situation underscores the significance of robust measures and vigilance in every aspects of government activities, including transport usage to communication habits.
