China ‘Will Use Electric Cars To Spy On Britain’, Ministers Warn

Chinese electric cars imported to the UK to help hit net zero targets will enable Beijing to spy on British citizens, ministers have warned.

With car companies facing quotas for zero-emissions sales from next year ahead of a ban on new petrol and diesel vehicles in 2030, China is predicted to dominate the UK market because of its prowess in providing cheap electric cars. [emphasis, links added]

However, sources at the heart of government have raised concerns that technology embedded in the vehicles could be used to harvest huge amounts of information, including location data, audio recordings, and video footage, while also being vulnerable to remote interference and even being disabled.

Meanwhile, a cross-party group of MPs warned the Government that Britain is poised to cede control of the “critical infrastructure” of its car market to Beijing “with all the attendant security risks.”

It comes as net zero has emerged as a key battleground between the Conservatives and Labour, with some Tory MPs urging Rishi Sunak to take a more cautious approach toward achieving the overall 2050 target.

With China emerging as a global force in [fully] electric vehicles, the prospect of a deluge of cars from the country entering the UK has now raised fears about security implications.

A senior government source told The Telegraph: “If it is manufactured in a country like China, how certain can you be that it won’t be a vehicle for collecting intel and data?

If you have electric vehicles manufactured by countries that are already using technology to spy, why would they not do the same here?

“They are high-risk products. We know that China always thinks in very long terms. So if they were providing a product that could do more than just deliver the consumer’s desire to go from A to B, why would they not be doing it?”

The source added: “It will be used with all of the data that they collect, and that’s how it becomes incredibly valuable and quite dangerous.”

One minister said that they shared concerns about remote surveillance and interference. “That is the world we’re going into,” they said.

Read rest at The Telegraph