An defence minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the possible threats posed by Chinese-made cars, while staff have been instructed to avoid talking about classified matters in all cars.
Safety Guidance for MoD Staff
In a recent appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to talk about secret material while riding in China-made vehicles.
The minister explained that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but stressed that safety is a issue in all contemporary cars.
Our department has a fleet of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
But whether you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their car, to avoid having conversations at a secret level in any vehicle, due to the increasing threats of surveillance that are present in all vehicle, to restrict those secret talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone worried about security.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using all cars from China, Pollard replied: That is exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”
Wider Defence Context
This announcement comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese buses, which could allow China to disable buses and cause disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship has been shining lasers at RAF aircrew, described as a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
The broader defence situation underscores the significance of strong protocols and vigilance in every aspects of government operations, including vehicle use to communication habits.
