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A defense minister has revealed that the MoD is currently investigating the possible threats posed by Chinese cars, and staff have been advised to refrain from talking about secret matters in any vehicles.

Security Advice for MoD Staff

During a recently aired appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to discuss classified material while travelling in China-made vehicles.

The minister stated that the ministry is “investigating” cars from China within its fleets, however stressed that safety is a issue in every contemporary cars.

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

But whether you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any kind of vehicle, because of the growing risks of eavesdropping that are present in every single vehicle, to restrict those confidential talks in protected areas. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for everyone worried about security.

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

Broader Defence Context

The announcement comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and bring disruption to transport systems.

Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly directing lasers at RAF aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.

This wider security environment highlights the importance of strong measures and caution in all areas of government operations, including transport usage to discussions practices.