Days after Elon Musk suggested that Chinese leader Xi Jinping should “figure out a special administrative zone for Taiwan,” the Taiwanese minister said its military would not buy more Tesla Inc. cars.
“The procurement of equipment must be in accordance with the needs of the army and in line with government policy guidance,” Chiu said.
“The national army currently has no need to purchase additional Tesla vehicles,” he added.
The military officials also reportedly turned off all the cameras of the cars it uses for security reasons, as each Tesla car has eight cameras that can relay footage back to the company. The report noted that Taiwan’s military currently has seven Model 3s and uses them for administrative purposes.
This came after Musk, in a new interview, discussed China and Taiwan issues and said, “My recommendation … would be to figure out a special administrative zone for Taiwan that is reasonably palatable, probably won’t make everyone happy.”
Following this, Taiwan’s de-facto ambassador came down heavily on the Tesla CEO and said, “Taiwan sells many products, but our freedom and democracy are not for sale.”
