“Teslas are not allowed to enter the Chinese district for two months due to government consultations”

Tesla cars are not allowed to drive in the Chinese coastal district of Beidaihe in July and August. The government organizes an annual top meeting in that district. The Chinese government has long been concerned about the espionage risk that the cars would pose.

An officer of the Beidaihe traffic police says to Reuters that the Teslas are not allowed to enter the area because of ‘national interests’. Soon the Chinese government would like to announce more about the blockade. Tesla cars would not be welcome in the coastal area for at least two months.

In Beidaihe, a seaside resort east of Beijing, the Chinese government holds a summit meeting every summer. Here, senior officials discuss personnel changes and policy plans behind closed doors. The date of this meeting will not be communicated in advance. Perhaps that is why the blockade of Tesla cars is taking so long, to prevent the date of the summit meeting from being announced.

The Chinese government more often bans Tesla cars because they contain multiple cameras that can store images while driving or stationary, for example for anti-theft mode Sentry. China fears that these images could also be used for other purposes. That is why military and government employees, for example, should not be allowed to drive Tesla cars. Earlier this month, Tesla cars were banned from Chengdu, according to Reuters, when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the city.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said last year that his cars are not being used to spy in China or elsewhere in the world. Later he also promised that data from Chinese Teslas will be stored in China.

A Tesla Model Y.