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A defence minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the possible security risks associated with Chinese-made cars, while personnel have been instructed to avoid discussing classified matters in any cars.

Safety Advice for Defence Staff

In a recently aired interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD officials have been instructed not to talk about secret information while travelling in China-made cars.

He stated that the ministry is “investigating” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however noted that safety is a issue in all modern vehicles.

We have a fleet of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and those vehicles account for a tiny fraction.

However regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is not to plug MoD devices into their car, to avoid having discussions at a secret level in any kind of vehicle, because of the growing risks of surveillance that are present in every single automobile, to restrict those secret talks in protected areas. That’s a wise and reasonable thing for everyone worried about safety.

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

Broader Defence Context

This revelation follows claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made buses, which could allow China to disable buses and bring chaos to public transit.

Additionally, a Russian intelligence vessel has been shining laser beams at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.

The wider security situation underscores the importance of strong measures and caution in all aspects of official operations, from vehicle usage to communication habits.