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A defence official has confirmed that the MoD is actively examining the possible threats associated with Chinese-made vehicles, while personnel have been advised to avoid talking about secret information in any vehicles.

Security Advice for Defence Personnel

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

The minister said that the ministry is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, however emphasised that security is a concern in all modern cars.

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

But regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our staff is not to plug MoD technology into their car, not to have conversations at a classified level in any kind of vehicle, because of the growing threats of surveillance that exist in all vehicle, to restrict those secret conversations in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about safety.

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

Broader Defence Context

The announcement follows claims from Scandinavian countries have alerted the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable public transport and cause chaos to transport systems.

Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel was reportedly directing lasers at RAF aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by defence officials.

The wider security environment highlights the significance of strong measures and caution in every aspects of government operations, from vehicle usage to discussions habits.