An defense official has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the potential security risks posed by Chinese-made cars, and personnel have been told to avoid discussing classified information in any cars.
Safety Advice for MoD Staff
During a recently aired interview on a radio station, a defence minister addressed reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to talk about classified information while riding in Chinese vehicles.
He explained that the ministry is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however noted that safety is a issue in every modern vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
But regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a classified classification in any vehicle, due to the increasing threats of surveillance that are present in every single vehicle, to restrict those secret conversations in secure locations. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone worried about safety.
After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using every cars from China, Pollard replied: That is precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”
Broader Defence Context
This revelation comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow China to disable public transport and bring disruption to transport systems.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
This broader security situation highlights the significance of strong measures and caution in every aspects of government activities, from transport use to communication practices.
