An defence official has stated 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.
Security Guidance for Defence Staff
In a recently aired interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed reports that MoD officials have been instructed not to discuss secret information while travelling in Chinese cars.
He said that the ministry is “investigating” cars from China within its fleets, but emphasised that safety is a concern in all modern cars.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD devices into their car, to avoid having discussions at a secret classification in any car, because of the growing threats of surveillance that are present in all automobile, to only have those secret talks in secure locations. This is a prudent and sensible thing for everyone worried about security.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using every Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: That is 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 presence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and bring disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” action by government representatives.
This wider defence situation highlights the significance of strong protocols and vigilance in every aspects of government operations, from transport use to discussions habits.
