Can the Chinese communist government track Chinese-made electric vehicles, monitor drivers’ behaviors around the world, and target EV drivers they believe are a threat to their national security? Can China remotely detonate electric vehicles?
These questions would’ve sounded completely insane a month ago; however, revelations out of Israel have raised questions about totalitarian governments assassinating people with detonation devices. We now know that the Israeli government is detonating personal devices, and they are proud of their capabilities. If the Israeli government thinks you are a terrorist, they can provide you with a device that they can remotely detonate whenever they want. So, what is China capable of?
A British think tank is now warning about the electric vehicles coming from China, claiming they present both “economic and security risks” to the people of the United Kingdom and the European Union. Their latest report warns that Chinese-made electric vehicles could be “weaponised” by Beijing.
Report warns about economic and security risks from Chinese-made electric vehicles
The China Strategic Risks Institute (CSRI) just published a report warning about the UK’s dependency on Chinese-made electric vehicles. According to the report, Chinese-made EVs have rapidly expanded their UK market share in the past five years. In 2019, these Chinese EVs had a market share of 2%. By the first half of 2023, that market share had jumped to 33.4%. With UK leaders refusing to levy tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, the report warns that Britain will become Beijing’s “dumping ground and a potential backdoor into the European market.”
The report warns that the UK is subsidizing communist China’s EVs, encouraging the annual importation of five to ten million cheaply-produced EVs. But it’s not just the UK’s 198,000 vehicle manufacturing jobs that are in jeopardy to China’s growing electric vehicle market.
The report also warns about the abuse potential of Chinese-manufactured Cellular Internet of Things Modules (“CIMs”). These devices, embedded inside Chinese-made EVs, send personal data back to Beijing. This data collection violates the privacy of British drivers, and in the future, it could put Britons at risk to adversarial governments and rogue actors.
Communist China requires the UK to give up data access on all UK drivers. So far, UK leaders have complied with China’s data collection schemes and ignored the national security risks which include potential remote control of EVs, the remote shutdown of EVs, and the remote detonation of EVs.
Report warns of potential remote shutoff and remote control over EVs
The CSRI report explicitly warns that these CIM modules could allow for remote shutoff or allow hackers to take remote control over the cars. If this is possible, then it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that the CIMs could be loaded up with detonation material and remotely detonated at a future date.
The report advises UK leaders to mandate that all foreign suppliers of EVs agree not to transmit data under any circumstances. The report also advises UK leaders to legally require China to share their source code with the British government and mandate regular inspections of their data storage centers around the globe. The report advises the UK to routinely check data storage centers worldwide to make sure that sensitive driver data is not being collected and analyzed by foreign servers.
Senior policy director at the CSRI, Sam Goodman told The Telegraph: “The Government and the public appear to be unaware when it comes to the dependency, disruption, and data security risks the CIMs within Chinese EVs present to the UK.
“We have heard little from the new Government on the risks Chinese EVs present so far. We urge that this be addressed, otherwise, the UK risks alienating its closest allies, deepening its dependency on China for its EV supply chain and the green transition, and leaving itself exposed to being bullied and blackmailed by Beijing.”
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