If Tesla's electric vehicles are used for espionage, the company will simply be shut down, said the CEO of the American automaker Elon Max. Earlier it became known that the Chinese Ministry of Defense has banned the parking of American electric vehicles on the territory of residential complexes of military personnel and military bases, fearing that cameras installed on Tesla could collect confidential information.
“We have a very strong incentive to keep any information confidential,” Musk said at the China Development Forum during a virtual discussion. "If Tesla uses cars for spying in China or elsewhere, we will be shut down immediately."
The new restrictions from Beijing came at a time when leading Chinese and American diplomats were meeting in Alaska, the first such personal communication since US President Joe Biden took office in January. During the talks, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan exchanged harsh words with China's Chief Diplomat Yang Jiechi and State Counselor Wang Yi
Musk called for building mutual trust between the world's two largest economies in his speech at the forum. He led a panel discussion with Xue Qikong, a Chinese quantum physicist who heads the Southern University of Science and Technology.
In China, the world's largest auto market and a key battleground for electric vehicles (EVs), Tesla sold 147,445 vehicles last year, representing 30% of its global total.
Tesla builds Model 3s and Model Y SUVs at the Gigafactory near Shanghai. The company's vehicles have several small cameras that are used for parking, autopilot, and autonomous driving. Most cars have another camera inside that monitors where the driver is looking.
