The United States will bar vehicles made by Chinese electric-car maker BYD from a U.S. military base in Japan, extending restrictions that have already limited the use of Chinese-made electronics at American bases and key military facilities. The measure is intended to pre-empt the risk that cameras and sensors built into electric vehicles could leak information from inside the base. Some observers say the ban could be expanded to U.S. bases in South Korea.
Kadena Air Base in Japan's Okinawa Prefecture has given notice that it will bar entry to BYD vehicles manufactured in China starting on the 26th, according to a U.S. Forces Japan official on the 23rd.
Kadena is the largest U.S. Air Force installation outside the United States and a core node in the Pacific security front, serving both the defense of Japan and efforts to counter North Korea, China and Russia. It also hosts the Typhon system, a launch platform for Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of 1,600 kilometers. Fired from western Japan, a Tomahawk cruise missile would put Beijing within range.
From the 26th, security personnel will block BYD vehicles at every gate at Kadena. The ban covers privately owned cars as well as contractor vehicles, taxis, delivery trucks and other commercial vehicles. The 18th Security Forces Squadron, which handles base security and the protection of critical assets, will turn BYD vehicles away immediately on arrival, and base officials said there will be no exceptions under any circumstances.
The measure is seen as an effort to prevent leaks of information about military operations conducted at the base and about the fighter jets, transport aircraft, radar and munitions held by the 18th Wing of the U.S. Fifth Air Force in Japan. Underlying the move is concern that electric vehicles built as software-defined vehicles can gather information on their surroundings through advanced sensors and cameras, and that with real-time cloud transmission or remote-control functions they could effectively serve as data-collection devices.
In June, the U.S. Department of Defense designated 188 companies, including Alibaba and Baidu, as Chinese military companies operating directly or indirectly in the United States and added them to its Section 1260H procurement restriction list. BYD was among them. The department had already formally banned the sale and use of smartphones made by Chinese companies such as Huawei and ZTE at exchanges on U.S. military bases worldwide in 2018, and it also restricts the use of Huawei telecom base stations near military facilities and overseas garrisons.
BYD has recently rolled out models tailored to Japanese demand and expanded its store network, increasing sales mainly in regional areas where public transit networks are less developed. Within and around U.S. Forces Japan, some expect the BYD entry ban to spread to other major installations such as Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture and to U.S. bases in South Korea.
Japan, wary of China's growing military influence in East Asia, is also sharply tightening rules on Chinese-made information technology and communications equipment and on cloud and data center services. Relations between Japan and China have remained frosty since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested in parliament last November that Japan could intervene in a Taiwan contingency. China has denounced Japan's push to expand its defense capabilities as "new militarism," and tensions between the two countries continue.