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A defense minister has revealed that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the possible threats posed by Chinese-made cars, while personnel have been advised to refrain from talking about classified matters in any vehicles.

Safety Guidance for MoD Personnel

In a recently aired interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to talk about secret information while travelling in China-made cars.

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

Our department has a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles represent a tiny fraction.

But whether you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD devices into their car, to avoid having discussions at a secret level in any kind of vehicle, due to the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all automobile, to restrict those confidential talks in protected areas. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about safety.

After it was suggested that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”

Broader Defence Context

This announcement follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and bring chaos to transport systems.

Additionally, a Russia spy ship was reportedly directing laser beams at RAF pilots, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.

The wider security environment highlights the importance of strong protocols and caution in all aspects of government operations, from transport usage to discussions habits.