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A defense minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively looking into the possible threats posed by Chinese cars, and staff have been advised to avoid discussing classified information in any cars.

Safety Guidance for MoD Staff

In a recent appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD officials have been instructed not to discuss classified material while riding in Chinese cars.

The minister stated that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, however noted that security is a issue in all modern vehicles.

We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a very small number.

But regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people is not to plug MoD technology into their car, not to have conversations at a secret level in any kind of vehicle, because of the growing threats of eavesdropping that exist in all automobile, to restrict those secret conversations in protected areas. This is a wise and sensible thing for anyone concerned about safety.

After it was put to him that it would be wise for the ministry to stop using every cars from China, the minister replied: That is precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”

Wider Security Context

The announcement follows claims from Scandinavian countries have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable buses and bring chaos to transport systems.

Additionally, a Russia intelligence vessel has been shining lasers at RAF pilots, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.

The broader defence situation underscores the importance of strong measures and caution in every areas of official activities, including transport use to discussions habits.