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An defense minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the potential security risks posed by Chinese-made cars, and staff have been advised to avoid talking about classified matters in any cars.

Security Advice for Defence Staff

In a recent appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard commented on claims that MoD officials have been instructed not to discuss secret material while travelling in China-made vehicles.

The minister explained that the ministry is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that safety is a issue in all modern cars.

We have a fleet of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.

However whether you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any vehicle, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to only have those confidential conversations in protected areas. That’s a wise and sensible thing for everyone concerned about safety.

When it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using all cars from China, the minister replied: That is exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”

Wider Defence Context

This announcement comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could enable China to disable public transport and bring chaos to transport systems.

Additionally, a Russian spy ship has been shining laser beams at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.

This wider defence situation highlights the significance of robust measures and caution in all aspects of official activities, including transport use to discussions practices.