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A defence official has revealed that the MoD is actively looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, and staff have been told to avoid discussing classified matters in all vehicles.

Security Guidance for Defence Staff

In a recently aired interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on reports that MoD officials have been told not to talk about secret information while travelling in China-made vehicles.

The minister explained that the MoD is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however emphasised that safety is a concern in all contemporary cars.

Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.

However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any kind of vehicle, due to the growing risks of surveillance that exist in every single vehicle, to only have those confidential conversations in protected areas. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone worried about safety.

After it was put to him that it would be prudent for the MoD to cease using every cars from China, Pollard responded: That is precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”

Broader Defence Background

The announcement comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off public transport and bring disruption to transport systems.

Additionally, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, described as a “extremely risky” action by government representatives.

This wider defence environment underscores the significance of strong measures and caution in all areas of official activities, including vehicle use to communication habits.