A defense official has confirmed that the MoD is actively looking into the possible security risks posed by Chinese-made vehicles, and staff have been told to refrain from discussing secret information in any cars.
Security Guidance for MoD Personnel
During a recent appearance on a radio station, a defence minister commented on reports that MoD officials have been instructed not to discuss secret information while travelling in China-made vehicles.
The minister said that the MoD is “investigating” cars from China within its fleets, however emphasised that security is a concern in every contemporary cars.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD devices into their car, not to have discussions at a secret level in any kind of car, due to the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in every single automobile, to restrict those secret conversations in protected areas. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about safety.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using all cars from China, Pollard responded: ‘That’s exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Broader Defence Context
This announcement follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable buses and bring chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.
The broader security situation underscores the importance of strong measures and caution in every areas of government activities, including vehicle usage to communication habits.
