In a bit of a shocking video, Chinese police prevented Tesla vehicles from driving on specific roads in Sichaun province this week.
The blocks happened on June 8, the same day General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and Chairman of the Central Military Commission Xi Jinping visited the city of Chengdu in Sichuan Province.
6月8日，习近平访问成都市，所有特斯拉不准进入市区
On June 8, China's Secretary Xi Jinping visited the city of Chengdu and all @Tesla were not allowed to enter the city #ElonMusk #Tesla pic.twitter.com/VrYL4lTrfk
— Inty时政 (@__Inty__) June 9, 2022
According to Chinese netizens, Jinping believes Tesla’s are foreign spy cars. As you can see in the video, local police stopped and redirected every Tesla trying to go on a specific road that presumably would have taken them near Jinping.
Local media reports suggested government officials flagged a potential security risk with Tesla vehicles.
Tesla vehicles of course have multiple onboard cameras to assist with Autopilot and Full Self-Driving capabilities.
Back in March 2021, we reported that Elon Musk stated that:
There’s a very strong incentive for us to be very confidential with any information. If Tesla used cars to spy in China or anywhere, we will get shut down.
This quote came after the Chinese military banned Tesla vehicles from its facilities around the country. However, from all appearances, this ban remains in place.
Tesla China did not provide a comment on the developments in Sichuan Province. Nor have we seen any official statement from Chinese officials on the video or media reports.
