An defense official has confirmed that the MoD is actively investigating the potential threats associated with Chinese-made cars, while staff have been advised to avoid discussing secret matters in any cars.
Safety Advice for MoD Staff
During a recently aired interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to talk about secret material while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
He stated that the ministry is “investigating” cars from China within its fleets, but stressed that safety is a issue in all contemporary cars.
Our department has a collection of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles account for a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any kind of vehicle, due to the growing risks of surveillance that exist in every single automobile, to only have those confidential talks in protected areas. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using all cars from China, Pollard replied: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Security Context
This revelation comes as reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could enable China to disable public transport and cause chaos to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at RAF pilots, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.
This wider security situation underscores the significance of robust measures and vigilance in every areas of official activities, including transport use to discussions practices.
