An defence official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential security risks associated with Chinese cars, while staff have been told to avoid talking about secret information in all vehicles.
Security Advice for Defence Personnel
In a recent interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to discuss secret material while riding in China-made vehicles.
The minister explained that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that security is a issue in all modern cars.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is not to plug MoD devices into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a classified level in any kind of vehicle, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that exist in every single vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in secure locations. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for everyone concerned about safety.
When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using all Chinese vehicles, the minister responded: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
This announcement follows reports from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese buses, which could enable China to disable public transport and bring chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
The wider security environment highlights the importance of strong protocols and caution in every areas of official activities, from vehicle use to communication habits.