An defence official has confirmed that the MoD is currently investigating the potential threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, and staff have been told to avoid talking about secret matters in any cars.
Security Guidance for MoD Personnel
During a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to talk about classified information while travelling in China-made cars.
The minister explained that the ministry is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that security is a concern in every contemporary vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles 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 MoD technology into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a secret level in any car, because of the increasing threats of eavesdropping that exist in all automobile, to restrict those confidential talks in secure locations. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone worried about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using all cars from China, the minister responded: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Defence Background
The revelation follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off public transport and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly shining lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
This wider defence situation highlights the importance of robust protocols and caution in every areas of official operations, from transport use to communication habits.
