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Israel Defense Forces have reportedly barred Chinese-manufactured vehicles from Israel military bases over surveillance fears.
Civilian vehicles or those with parts manufactured by companies associated with the People’s Republic of China are being restricted due to concerns about data leaks from built-in vehicular cameras, GPS and even biometric sensors, according to reporting from Israel National News.
Local media reported that an IDF internal announcement now requires military personnel and civilian employees to leave their cars in designated off-base parking to prevent the compromise of sensitive information.
The United Kingdom has also previously imposed a ban on parking electric vehicles built with PRC-manufactured parts near military bases, earlier this year.
UK parliamentary member and shadow minister for home affairs Alicia Kearns, speaking publicly in April this year, said there is inherent security risks associated with militaries using Chinese-manufactured vehicles.
“The military and government know the risks of Chinese espionage, but we cannot maintain our security with half-hearted measures,” she said.
“We need to see a full pivot away from Chinese produced electric vehicles in the British military and government fleets.
“We know the risks, now we need to act fast to protect ourselves from them.”
In 2023, the Australian government announced it would remove cameras made by Chinese companies Dahua and Hikvision that were installed in nearly all government departments.
At that time, then-shadow cyber security minister James Paterson advocated for the removal of PRC-manufactured devices as a security measure.
“I have two concerns. One is a security concern. We have no way of knowing whether images, audio or other data collected by these devices are being sent back to China and handed over to Chinese intelligence agencies,” he said at the time.
“But I also have a moral concern. These companies have been implicated in what the United Nations has called crimes against humanity, what others call genocide against the Uyghur people in Xinjiang. And I don’t think any Australian taxpayer dollars should be going to companies involved in these things.”
