A defense official has stated that the MoD is currently investigating the possible threats posed by Chinese vehicles, and staff have been advised to refrain from discussing secret information in all cars.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
During a recently aired interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been told not to discuss classified information while riding in Chinese vehicles.
He explained that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that safety is a issue in every modern cars.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug MoD devices into their car, not to have discussions at a secret level in any vehicle, because of the increasing threats of eavesdropping that are present in every single vehicle, to only have those secret talks in secure locations. This is a prudent and sensible thing for everyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard responded: That is exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”
Broader Security Context
The revelation comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at RAF pilots, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
The broader security situation underscores the importance of robust protocols and caution in every areas of official operations, including transport usage to discussions practices.
