A defense minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the possible security risks associated with Chinese-made vehicles, and personnel have been instructed to avoid discussing classified information in all vehicles.
Security Advice for MoD Staff
During a recent interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to talk about classified information while riding in China-made vehicles.
The minister said that the ministry is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but emphasised that security is a issue in all modern vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD technology into their car, not to have conversations at a secret level in any car, due to the increasing threats of surveillance that are present in all vehicle, to restrict those confidential talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone worried about security.
When it was put to him that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using all Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Broader Security Context
This announcement follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could enable China to switch off buses and bring chaos to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel has been shining lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
The broader defence situation highlights the significance of robust measures and caution in every areas of official operations, from vehicle use to discussions habits.
