Surround-view systems on Taipei and New Taipei buses have been found to contain Chinese chips from Huawei’s HiSilicon. DPP legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) has raised concerns over 82 affected vehicles.
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Taking public buses to travel between cities is a daily routine for many. However, bus safety systems in Taipei and New Taipei are now at the center of a national security concern after the discovery of Chinese chips in their surround-view systems.
DPP legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) presented evidence that electric buses operated by Hsinhsin Bus and Ta-Nan Bus contain chips from HiSilicon, a subsidiary of Huawei, raising cybersecurity concerns. She emphasized, “Right here in Taiwan, buses are running all over the Taipei and New Taipei area. This is a very serious national security issue.”
Lin said contract terms prohibit the use of Chinese-made products in the purchase of electric buses, but photos showed the logo of HiSilicon. Since the surround-view systems capture large amounts of pedestrians and street scenes for driving safety, she warned the buses could become “Chinese spy cars.” She also said Hsinhsin Bus and Ta-nan Bus initially claimed the systems were made in Taiwan and the Netherlands, but later corrected the information after inspection and admitted the chips originated in China.
Veterans Affairs Council Minister Yen Teh-fa (嚴德發) said, “We need to carry out a full inspection to see what other chips in this company are from HiSilicon, and at the same time, we need to seek compensation from the manufacturer, according to the contract, and replace all of these products.”
Yen confirmed that there are 82 buses with problems, including 61 operated by Hsinhsin Bus and 21 by Ta-nan Bus, all of which use a supplier that the council has listed as a contract violator. A special task force has been formed to conduct a full inventory, while operators are being ordered to replace the equipment within a set deadline.
Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER) Associate Research Fellow Tai Chih-Yen (戴志言) stressed that what matters most is not the impact of a single chip, but the whole system – from the dashcam surveillance system to the intersection surveillance system and then to the connectivity behind it. He said, “Once it can connect to the internet, much of our real-time information can be detected and seen by others. That is the bigger problem.”
Cybersecurity risks can ripple outward, and every link in the chain needs careful attention.
10/04/2026 18:57
Editor： Eloise Phillips