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A defence minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is actively investigating the possible security risks posed by Chinese-made vehicles, while staff have been instructed to avoid discussing secret information in any vehicles.

Safety Guidance for MoD Staff

In a recent interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed reports that MoD officials have been told not to discuss secret information while travelling in Chinese cars.

The minister said that the MoD is “looking into” cars from China within its vehicle pools, but stressed that security is a issue in all contemporary cars.

We have a collection of thousands of vehicles in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a very small number.

However regardless of if you’re driving a vehicle from China or a car from another country, our instruction to our staff is not to plug MoD technology into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a secret level in any kind of vehicle, due to the growing threats of surveillance that are present in all vehicle, to restrict those confidential talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for anyone worried about security.

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

Wider Defence Context

The announcement follows reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the UK to the presence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could allow the Chinese government to switch off buses and bring chaos to transport systems.

Furthermore, a Russia spy ship has been directing laser beams at RAF pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.

This broader security situation highlights the significance of robust protocols and caution in every aspects of government activities, from transport usage to communication practices.