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An defense minister has stated that the MoD is currently investigating the possible security risks posed by Chinese-made vehicles, while personnel have been instructed to refrain from talking about secret information in any cars.

Safety Advice for Defence Personnel

During a recently aired appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to discuss secret material while riding in China-made vehicles.

He explained that the ministry is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however emphasised that safety is a issue in all contemporary vehicles.

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, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a secret level in any kind of vehicle, due to the increasing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to restrict those secret conversations in secure locations. This is a wise and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.

When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using all cars from China, the minister responded: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”

Wider Defence Background

This announcement comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could allow China to disable buses and cause chaos to transport systems.

Furthermore, a Russian spy ship has been shining lasers at RAF aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.

This wider defence situation highlights the significance of strong measures and caution in every aspects of government operations, including vehicle usage to discussions habits.