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An defence minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the potential threats posed by Chinese vehicles, and personnel have been told to avoid discussing secret information in all cars.

Safety Advice for Defence Staff

During a recently aired appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD staff have been instructed not to talk about secret information while travelling in Chinese cars.

The minister said that the MoD is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but stressed that safety is a concern in every modern vehicles.

We have a collection of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.

But regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, not to have discussions at a secret classification in any kind of vehicle, due to the increasing risks of eavesdropping that are present in every single vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in secure locations. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for anyone worried about security.

After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using all cars from China, Pollard responded: That is precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”

Broader Security Background

This announcement follows claims from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable China to disable public transport and cause chaos to transport systems.

Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly directing laser beams at RAF aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” action by government representatives.

This broader security situation underscores the importance of strong measures and vigilance in all areas of official operations, from vehicle usage to communication habits.