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A defence official has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the potential security risks posed by Chinese-made cars, while staff have been instructed to refrain from talking about classified information in all cars.

Security Guidance for Defence Staff

In a recent interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on claims that MoD officials have been instructed not to discuss classified material while riding in China-made vehicles.

The minister stated that the MoD is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, but emphasised that safety is a concern in every contemporary vehicles.

We have a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles represent a very small number.

But whether you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their car, to avoid having conversations at a classified level in any vehicle, due to the growing risks of eavesdropping that exist in every single vehicle, to only have those confidential talks in secure locations. This is a wise and sensible thing for anyone concerned about safety.

When it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to cease using all cars from China, the minister responded: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the present time.”

Wider Defence Background

The revelation comes as claims from Scandinavian countries have warned the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could enable China to disable public transport and bring disruption to transport systems.

Furthermore, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at RAF aircrew, labeled a “extremely risky” act by defence officials.

The wider defence situation highlights the importance of robust protocols and caution in every aspects of official operations, including transport usage to communication habits.