Minister Says MoD Looking at Potential Threat from Chinese Cars, as Personnel Instructed to Avoid Secret Talk in Cars.

An defense minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively examining the possible threats associated with Chinese cars, while staff have been told to refrain from talking about secret information in any vehicles.

Safety Advice for MoD Staff

During a recent interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard commented on reports that MoD officials have been told not to talk about classified information while travelling in Chinese cars.

He stated that the ministry is “examining” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however noted that safety is a issue in every modern cars.

Our department has a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and those vehicles represent a very small number.

However regardless of if you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD technology into their car, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any car, due to the growing risks of surveillance that are present in all vehicle, to only have those confidential talks in secure locations. This is a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about security.

When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using every Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: That is exactly what we are looking into at the present time.”

Broader Defence Context

The announcement follows reports from Scandinavian countries have alerted the UK to the presence of dual-use kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could allow the Chinese government to disable buses and cause chaos to transport systems.

Furthermore, a Russian intelligence vessel has been directing laser beams at RAF aircrew, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.

This broader defence environment underscores the importance of strong measures and caution in all aspects of official operations, including vehicle use to communication habits.