China expert talks dark side of Chinese auto industry: Spying, slave labor, killing the U.S. car market

Author and China expert Gordon Chang spoke about the various dangers that the Chinese electric vehicle industry poses to Americans and the rest of the world.

China expert Gordon Chang is lifting the veil on the dark side of the Chinese electric vehicle industry, claiming that it threatens to choke out the U.S automotive industry, will bring with it a whole new data collection apparatus to potentially spy on Americans, and will grow on the back of slave labor.

Chang, the Gatestone Institute senior fellow and author of "The Coming Collapse of China," spoke to Fox News Digital about what he believes are a whole host of dangers that will come from China’s major splash into the EV market.

The expert’s message comes as Chinese electric vehicle company BYD recently surpassed EV giant Tesla’s production for the second straight year, manufacturing over 3 million vehicles in 2023 compared to Tesla’s 1.84 million.

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Though BYD has yet to sell in America, it has cornered the global EV market by selling its clean energy and hybrid line of vehicles at a cheaper rate than its competitors.

Chang warned the explosion is being driven in part by "extremely predatory" business practices amounting to "trade violations" that threaten to flood the market and kill western countries’ manufacturing jobs.

"China makes 60% of the world's EVs. It manufactures 10 million more cars per year than it can absorb in its domestic market, which means it must export those additional cars, which means it floods the markets around the world," he said.

Chang added the Chinese government boosts EV production far and away beyond what many economically responsible countries do, leading to an unfair advantage that could ultimately put American companies out of business.

"And we've got to remember the massive subsidies that China puts into its EVs. Those subsidies are about three to four times the size of subsidies in OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries, for instance," he said.

"So basically, we've got this massive trade violation, and it's extremely predatory." 

He said China has been untrustworthy in trade relations with the U.S. for decades.

"Admission to the World Trade Organization was supposed to sort of integrate China into a global system of rules. That hasn't worked. China has openly violated its WTO obligations," Chang said, adding, "We do not want China to own all of our manufacturing capacity so that there are no American manufacturers left. I know that that sounds extreme, but that's what China wants. And we have the power to stop it because this is our country."

Chang also commented on other dangers stemming from a burgeoning Chinese EV market, namely spying and data collection on Americans and other citizens from around the world. 

"With an EV – with any Chinese ca, I'm sure the Chinese are going to use it to take information," he said, adding, "China has been hoovering up information in all areas, and it's doing that for a number of purposes. But none of them are benign. So, for us, we cannot allow China to collect information from the United States in this or any other fashion."

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Other auto industry experts have raised similar alarms about Chinese EVs.

Auto guru Mike Caudill previously told Fox News Digital, "Chinese EVs could be equipped with even more powerful spying equipment. They could go anywhere, including military bases, power plants and cellphone towers. EVs would be far more effective than spy balloons at collecting important data, and at far lower cost – because Americans would be purchasing these vehicles."

Chang also mentioned that the parts used in manufacturing Chinese EVs, and other Chinese products, come from slave labor. 

"The one concern we have with Chinese-made parts is forced and slave labor. So, for instance, we know, from studies that virtually all of the solar panels made in China are made with such labor. And that is completely unacceptable," he declared.

Chang asserted that Americans shouldn’t want to contribute to the economic growth of a nation hostile to it in general.

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"The point is, we should be focusing on American manufacturing right now," he declared.