SHANGHAI (AP) — Tesla cars will be banned from entering China’s coastal Beidaihe district for at least two months starting July 1 for at least two months starting July 1, a local traffic police official told Reuters on Monday.
The beidaihe authorities’ decision comes just weeks after Tesla cars were also banned from driving on some roads in the central town of Chengdu in early June, coinciding with a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to the town.
The head of the Beidaihe Traffic Police Brigade, who declined to give his name, provided an explanation of why the decision was made, but said it involved “national affairs. “An announcement will be made soon, the official said.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
Beidaihe, a hotel east of Beijing, historically hosts a summer conclave of China’s most sensible leaders where they talk behind closed doors about the body of workers’ movements and political concepts. China does not officially announce the dates of the meeting regularly.
Chengdu’s restrictions on Tesla cars, which have been officially announced, were revealed after videos of Tesla cars hijacked from certain spaces through police were posted on social media.
Last year, the Chinese military banned Tesla cars from entering its precincts, raising security considerations about cameras in vehicles, Reuters reported at the time, mentioning resources that had noticed the directive.
Musk said at the time that Tesla’s cars were spying in China or elsewhere, and that the company would close if it did. Months later, Tesla said all the knowledge generated through cars sold in China would be stored in the country.
Car brands are increasingly equipping their cars with cameras and sensors that capture photographs of a car’s environment. Controlling how those photographs are used and where they are sent and stored is an emerging challenge for industry and regulators around the world.
Tesla cars feature external cameras to help drivers park, change lanes and other functions. (Reporting by Zhang Yan, Brenda Goh, and Kevin Huang; additional reporting by Martin Pollard; editing by Himani Sarkar and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
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