A defense official has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the potential threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, while personnel have been told to avoid talking about classified matters in any vehicles.
Safety Guidance for MoD Staff
In a recently aired appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD officials have been told not to talk about secret information while riding in China-made cars.
He said that the ministry is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but stressed that safety is a concern in all contemporary cars.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their car, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any car, because of the growing risks of surveillance that exist in all vehicle, to restrict those confidential talks in protected areas. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone worried about security.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Wider Defence Background
The revelation follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could enable China to switch off buses and bring disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russian spy ship was reportedly directing lasers at RAF aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
This broader defence environment highlights the importance of robust measures and caution in every aspects of official activities, from vehicle usage to communication habits.
