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A defense official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the potential security risks posed by Chinese cars, while personnel have been advised to avoid discussing classified matters in all vehicles.

Safety Advice for Defence Staff

During a recent appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that Ministry of Defence staff have been told not to discuss secret information while travelling in Chinese vehicles.

The minister said that the ministry is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that safety is a concern in every contemporary cars.

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

However whether you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD devices into their car, to avoid having conversations at a secret level in any vehicle, due to the growing threats of surveillance that exist in every single automobile, to only have those secret talks in secure locations. This is a wise and sensible thing for everyone concerned about safety.

When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using every cars from China, the minister responded: That is precisely what we are looking into at the present time.”

Broader Security Context

This revelation follows reports from Scandinavian countries have warned the UK to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could enable China to disable public transport and bring chaos to public transit.

Furthermore, a Russia intelligence vessel was reportedly directing lasers at RAF aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” action by defence officials.

The broader security environment highlights the significance of robust measures and vigilance in all aspects of government operations, from transport usage to discussions habits.