Key Points

A recent dinner hosted by Taiku Motors, a distributor for Chinese EV giant BYD, with Taiwanese officials sparked suspicions of a hidden Beijing strategy to enter the Taiwanese market, a report from Nepal Aaja said.

Taiwan has already banned direct imports of People's Republic of China (PRC)-made complete vehicles, but multiple reports suggest that Chinese EV companies are trying to capture the market through locally assembled vehicles or via trade rerouting.

Chinese EVs, equipped with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and AI, can act as mobile data centres that collect location, audio, and traffic data, the Nepal Aaja report said.

Analysts warn that cloud-connected systems sending data to China may facilitate state surveillance, threatening Taiwan’s sovereignty. "They are, in effect, rolling repositories of sensors, processors, and cloud-connected systems capable of collecting vast amounts of environmental and behavioural data," the report said.

Experts compared EVs to a “Trojan horse”, referencing past instances of Chinese tech espionage in telecommunications and devices worldwide. Chinese-made electronic devices, from smartphones and routers to cranes at seaports, have come under increasing scrutiny worldwide. Investigations have revealed that some of these products contain components capable of transmitting sensitive data back to Beijing, the report said.

From compromised telecom networks to spyware-laced mobile apps, the pattern of data extraction is well documented, it further said.

Germany, Australia, and India have taken steps to phase out Chinese telecom components from their 5G networks, citing espionage risks, it added.

Experts urged Taiwan to continue the ban on Chinese-made vehicles, highlighting that geopolitical risks should influence technology evaluations beyond just cost or performance to safeguard national security in a time when data is linked to sovereignty.

- IANS