Importing Chinese cars raises espionage fears

Written by David Fletcher 10 Aug 2023
Importing Chinese cars raises espionage fears

British lawmakers warn that imported technology embedded in Chinese electric vehicles could be used to harvest information on drivers. With China leading the global EV market, cheaper Chinese vehicles are expected to dominate UK automotive sales. A cross-party group of MPs have expressed concern to the government that Britain is on the verge of handing control of critical infrastructure to Beijing, with all of the ‘associated security risks.’ An unnamed senior government official said that if it is manufactured in China, how certain can you be that it won’t be a vehicle for collecting intel and data? Why have electric vehicles manufactured by countries that already spy using technology? Why wouldn’t they do the same here? The UK already suspects China’s technology imports are a security risk and barred Huawei from the 5G network in 2020, ordering all equipment and services to be removed by the end of 2023.

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