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A defence minister has confirmed that the MoD is actively examining the potential security risks associated with Chinese cars, and personnel have been instructed to avoid talking about classified matters in any cars.

Security Advice for Defence Staff

In a recent interview on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to discuss secret information while travelling in China-made vehicles.

The minister stated that the ministry is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but noted that security is a concern in every contemporary cars.

Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles account for a very small number.

However regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD devices into their car, not to have discussions at a classified classification in any vehicle, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all automobile, to only have those confidential conversations in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about safety.

After it was put to him that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”

Broader Defence Context

The announcement comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable public transport and bring disruption to transport systems.

Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel has been shining laser beams at RAF pilots, labeled a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.

The broader defence situation underscores the importance of robust protocols and caution in all aspects of official operations, including transport usage to discussions practices.