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An defence official has stated that the MoD is currently looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese cars, and personnel have been told to refrain from talking about secret information in any cars.

Security Advice for Defence Personnel

During a recently aired appearance on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to talk about classified information while riding in China-made cars.

He stated that the ministry is “examining” cars from China within its fleets, however stressed that safety is a concern in every contemporary vehicles.

Our department has a collection of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles represent a very small number.

However regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any kind of car, because of the increasing threats of surveillance that exist in every single automobile, to restrict those secret conversations in secure locations. This is a wise and reasonable thing for anyone worried about safety.

After it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to cease using all Chinese vehicles, the minister replied: ‘That’s exactly what we are looking into at the moment.”

Broader Security Context

The announcement follows claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could enable China to disable public transport and bring disruption to public transit.

Additionally, a Russia spy ship has been shining lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.

The wider security environment underscores the significance of robust measures and caution in all areas of official activities, including vehicle usage to communication habits.