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An defense official has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the possible security risks posed by Chinese-made cars, and staff have been advised to refrain from discussing secret information in any vehicles.

Safety Advice for Defence Personnel

In a recently aired appearance on LBC, a defence minister commented on reports that Ministry of Defence staff have been instructed not to talk about classified material while travelling in China-made vehicles.

He said that the MoD is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its fleets, however noted that security is a issue in every contemporary vehicles.

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

But regardless of if you’re traveling in a vehicle from China or a non-Chinese car, what we’ve asked our staff is to avoid connecting MoD technology into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a secret level in any vehicle, because of the increasing risks of surveillance that exist in every single automobile, to only have those confidential conversations in secure locations. This is a wise and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about safety.

After it was put to him that it would be wise for the MoD to stop using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”

Wider Security Background

The announcement follows claims from Norway and Denmark have alerted the UK to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese buses, which could enable China to disable buses and cause chaos to transport systems.

Additionally, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at Royal Air Force pilots, labeled a “highly dangerous” action by government representatives.

This wider defence environment underscores the importance of robust measures and caution in every areas of government activities, including transport usage to communication habits.