U.S. military bans China-manufactured BYD cars from Okinawa air base

The Washington Times ^ | 26 October 2026 | Andrew Salmon

[WhiteHatBobby0701]

SEOUL, South Korea — The U.S. military, citing unspecified “risks to our personnel,” on Monday banned electric vehicles manufactured by Chinese automaker BYD from Kadena, a key U.S. air base on Okinawa.

“These vehicles present an unacceptable and unmitigable risk to our personnel and our mission,” spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Alli Stormer said, per Reuters.

She did not say what specific concern had prompted the move against vehicles produced by BYD, the largest global supplier of EVs, but the firm had, in June, been put on a Pentagon black list of 188 Chinese companies.

Japanese media speculated that the presence of Typhoon missile systems at the base — a weapon that is capable of hitting Chinese ports, and which has irked Beijing — may be one reason for the ban.

Current-generation civilian vehicles — “smartphones on wheels,” with inbuilt navigation sensors, dashboard cameras and other systems that record and store location, image and audio datasets — are emerging as new security risks.

Those risks came into stark view in an exercise conducted earlier this month by Norway’s Home Guard.

According to Scandinavian media, Volvo (part of China's Geely - ed.) rental cars used by the reservists recorded and stored the cars’ locations, took photos of the soldiers who entered and exited the vehicles and captured security pad codes during the drills.

One of the Norwegian officers reportedly discovered the extent of the data storage by accident.

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TOPICS: Business/Economy; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: china; japan; spying; war

[WhiteHatBobby0701]

China wants to find a way to spy on opponents to create the Sinican Century.

[packagingguy]

Kim Komando (who has a radio show on tech) says cars in general are some of the worst actors in terms of spying on you. BYD would certainly not be any different.

[exPBRrat]

Good. Mainland USA next

[Psalm 73]

I learned how to drive lefty-side one afternoon at Kadena. I think it was a Toyota.

[Responsibility2nd]

So no Chinese cars, but Chinese cell phones and computers?

Sure. Why not?

[BipolarBob]

I want a fullgood car bad.

[WhiteHatBobby0701]

She’s right. Chinese car spying. That’s the whole point. Pax Sinica.

The domination of everything by the People’s Republic. There’s a reason why Obama pushed wind and solar, and they believe banning coal (which also produces what’s necessary to make steel) is what’s needed to help create the new environmentalist wacko mentality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tik8LhXbVWA

[equaviator]

[Paal Gulli]

BYD also is in a full goose gonzo campaign to put their own team in Formula 1 racing.

Except F1 races at three different circuits in the US.

Trump45/47/48 could scupper the entire effort just by leaning on the circuits in Las Vegas, Miami and Austin to ban all ChiCom sponsorship.

[oldtech]

It was my thought some years ago that the U’S. should never have entered into any kind of trade with China. I know it might cause difficulties, but it also would have eliminated some.

[WhiteHatBobby0701]

F1 has Lenovo as a sponsor, and so is Qatar Airways. Qatar Airways had its logo at Turn 20 for F1 in Austin (seeing the F1 Academy video evidence).