An defense minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the potential threats associated with Chinese cars, and staff have been instructed to refrain from talking about secret matters in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for MoD Staff
In a recent interview on a radio station, a defence minister addressed claims that MoD officials have been told not to talk about classified information while travelling in China-made cars.
He said that the MoD is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but emphasised that security is a issue in all modern vehicles.
We have a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their car, to avoid having discussions at a secret classification in any kind of vehicle, due to the growing threats of surveillance that are present in all automobile, to only have those secret talks in protected areas. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for anyone worried about security.
When it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Broader Defence Context
This announcement follows claims from Norway and Denmark have warned 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 disruption to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.
The broader security situation highlights the importance of robust protocols and caution in all areas of official operations, from vehicle use to communication habits.
