An defense official has confirmed that the MoD is actively investigating the potential threats associated with Chinese vehicles, while staff have been instructed to avoid talking about classified information in all vehicles.
Security Advice for MoD Personnel
In a recent interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to talk about secret material while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
He said that the ministry is “examining” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but stressed that security is a concern in every contemporary cars.
Our department has a collection of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a classified classification in any kind of vehicle, because of the growing threats of surveillance that are present in all automobile, to restrict those confidential conversations in protected areas. This is a wise and sensible thing for anyone worried about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using all cars from China, Pollard responded: That is precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Security Context
This announcement follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off buses and cause disruption to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
This wider security situation underscores the significance of strong measures and vigilance in all areas of official operations, including vehicle use to communication practices.
