The Tesla-China love affair isn’t winding down just yet. But that may change as autonomous driving — and its requisite data hoarding — ramps up.
On April 18, in a crowded showroom at the 2021 Shanghai Auto Show, a 32-year-old woman from Henan province named Zhang Yazhou climbed onto the roof of a raspberry-red Tesla Model 3 and began to scream. As onlookers turned their attention from the glitzy new cars, Zhang made an accusation that no automaker wants trumpeted: “Tesla’s brakes are not working! Tesla’s brakes are not working!” Her t-shirt and that of another woman standing nearby repeated the claim, which referred to a near-fat
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Bob Fu's relationship with China has gone through phases. First, he thought money would solve his problems there; then he joined protesters at Tiananmen Square, thinking the politics could change. In the end, he determined, only God could save China, and he's been fighting for religious freedom in China ever since he resettled in Texas. With his nonprofit, ChinaAid, prospering like never before, he says the U.S. is finally catching on.
A podcast about how the two nations, once friends, are now foes.
Hear why things are so complicated now. Host Jane Perlez, former New York Times Beijing bureau chief, talks with diplomats, spies, cultural superstars like Yo Yo Ma, and more to understand why the dangers are so high, and why relations went awry.