SHANGHAI: Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp said on Monday it is engaging a third-party expert to assess claims from Lithuania's government that its phones carry a censoring feature.

"While we dispute the characterization of certain findings, we are engaging an independent third party expert to assess the points raised in the report," a Xiaomi spokesperson said in a statement.

The announcement comes after Lithuania's defence ministry urged consumers to throw away Chinese phones last week, following a report published by Lithuania's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) alleging that Xiaomi phones censor content.

Xiaomi said at the time that its device "does not censor communications to or from its users".