Tesla cars have been banned from entering China’s coastal town of Beidaihe, the site of the crucial annual meeting of Chinese leadership, for two months starting July 1.
The information was confirmed by an official from the Beidaihe Traffic Police Brigade, who claimed that an official announcement will be made soon, reported UK-based media.
The traditional Beidaihe meeting, or “summer summit” as it is known to Chinese viewers, is held every year in the resort town in Hebei province, wherein Chinese leaders from earlier generations gather in an informal setting to have closed-door conversations about key domestic issues, the South China Morning Post reported.
The Beidaihe meeting takes place every year from the end of July to the beginning of August.
The banning of Tesla cars comes ahead of raising security concerns over cameras installed on its vehicles, inducing spying apprehensions in the country amidst the summer summit.
The third model of Tesla has eight cameras and millimetre-wave radar, and 12 ultrasonic sensors.
Recently in Chengdu, Tesla cars were diverted away from areas coinciding with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Last year, the Chinese military banned them from entering its premises.
The police are also making Tesla owners sign an undertaking stating “I, ____ promise to undertake that from 1.7.22 to 31.8.22, I would not drive the car with plate number ____ and enter Beidaihe district or drive the car inside Beidaihe district, and further undertake that the actual user of the car with this number plate will also comply with this undertaking.”
With the Beidaihe meeting scheduled in July, Xi has been focusing on anti-corruption affairs.
On June 17, Wang Like, a former member of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee’s Standing Committee and the Jiangsu Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Commission, was charged with bribery, harbouring and conniving mafia-like organisations, and forging identity documents at Changchun City’s Intermediate People’s Court, reported Xinhua.
On the same day, the Politburo convened a study session focusing on anti-corruption and urging senior cadres to act responsibly.
On June 19, the General Office of the CPC issued “Regulations on the Management of Leading Cadres’ Spouses, Children and children’s spouses to Run Business and Run Enterprises.”
With the prosecutions of persons like Wang Like and Xiao Jianhua, Xi may be attempting to intimidate potential challengers and factional rivals by emphasising anti-corruption matters at this critical time before the Beidaihe summit.
