Canada

Intelligence and cybersecurity experts are warning the Liberal government about national security risks posed by allowing Chinese electric vehicles onto Canadian military bases.

Critics and some experts are even calling on Ottawa to ban the cars from Canadian Armed Forces bases and other sensitive sites due to onboard sensors they say could collect and transmit sensitive information to the Chinese government.

Their warning comes after Poland and Israel instituted similar bans on EVs built by Chinese companies like BYD Auto over the past year — and as Conservative politicians in Canada raise the alarm over the threat of so-called “spy cars.”

Dennis Molinaro, a counter-intelligence expert at Ontario Tech University and a former national security analyst, said the federal government should follow the example of Poland and Israel.

“Absolutely, Canada should be doing the same,” he told The Canadian Press. He said a national security law in China that appears to compel private companies to funnel intelligence back to Beijing could make the cars a security risk.

David Shipley, CEO of Beauceron Security, said the risks are high enough that Parliament should at least haul military brass and senior bureaucrats in front of a committee to testify about National Defence’s plans for managing those risks.

“The Chinese sometimes send us a good signal about what the risks are,” Shipley said. “They banned Teslas from their major political events and military bases for the same reason Israel is banning their BYDs.”

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