1. The Consul General’s Wife Met Tesla’s China Vice President
On January 30, 2018, Qiao Li, wife of the Consul General of Communist China in San Francisco, met with Grace Tao (陶琳), Tesla’s Vice President for China, at the Consulate General of Communist China in San Francisco.
https://sanfrancisco.china-consulate.gov.cn/tpxw/201802/t20180201_4148772.htm
Qiao Li was accompanied by Xuehua Zhu (祝学华), the Consulate’s Science and Technology Counselor.
During the meeting:
Qiao Li introduced the Consulate’s jurisdictional area in the United States.
She described the activities of the Consulate’s women’s group and its Sunshine School.
She recalled and shared her positive experience visiting Tesla in 2017.
Grace Tao introduced Tesla’s new product research and development and the company’s business operations in China.
Qiao Li thanked Tesla for its careful arrangements and hospitality during the previous visit, and specifically thanked Grace Tao for coordinating the visit.
Most importantly, Qiao Li stated that the Consulate General of Communist China in San Francisco was willing to work together with Tesla to promote scientific and technological innovation cooperation between Communist China and the United States in the field of clean energy.
This was not simply a social meeting. The Consulate explicitly discussed cooperation with a major American technology company in a strategically important industrial sector.
On May 31, 2023, a group photo covering Grace Tao and Elon Musk was taken. https://www.stheadline.com/zh-hans/realtime-china/3237923/%E9%A9%AC%E6%96%AF%E5%85%8B%E8%AE%BF%E5%8D%8E%E4%BB%8A%E5%87%8C%E6%99%A8%E8%AE%BF%E4%B8%8A%E6%B5%B7%E8%B6%85%E7%BA%A7%E5%B7%A5%E5%8E%82-%E6%88%96%E4%B8%BA%E5%8D%87%E7%BA%A7%E7%89%88Model-3%E6%8F%AD%E5%B9%95
2. October 16, 2017: The Consulate’s Women’s Group Visits Tesla’s Silicon Valley Factory
The January 2018 meeting followed an earlier visit organized by the Consulate.
On October 16, 2017, the Consulate General’s women’s group visited Tesla’s factory in Silicon Valley under the leadership of:
Zhang Jianxin, Deputy Consul General of Communist China in San Francisco.
Qiao Li, wife of Consul General Luo Linquan and head of the Consulate’s women’s group.
The delegation also visited Google’s headquarters campus.
At Tesla, the delegation:
Visited Tesla’s vehicle delivery center.
Visited the automobile production lines.
Test-drove a new Tesla vehicle.
Received presentations about Tesla electric vehicles, their performance, and manufacturing processes.
Discussed Tesla’s operations with company employees.
Learned about Tesla’s corporate history and business culture.
The Consulate’s October 17, 2017 report stated that the visit helped the delegation gain a better understanding of the technological innovation environment in the Consulate’s jurisdiction. https://sanfrancisco.china-consulate.gov.cn/tpxw/201710/t20171018_4148540.htm
The January 2018 report subsequently confirmed that Tesla had carefully arranged and hosted the October visit and that Tao Lin had coordinated the arrangements.
3. The Consulate Explicitly Sought Clean-Energy Technology Cooperation
The most significant statement in the January 30, 2018 meeting report was Qiao Li’s expressed willingness to cooperate with Tesla.
She stated:
The Consulate General of Communist China in San Francisco is willing to work together with Tesla to jointly promote scientific and technological innovation cooperation between China and the United States in the field of clean energy.
This statement connects the Consulate’s factory visit and subsequent executive-level meeting with an explicitly stated objective: cooperation in clean-energy technology innovation.
The meeting also provided an opportunity for Tesla’s China Vice President to introduce the company’s new product research and development and its business activities in Communist China.
4. The Women’s Group as a Channel for Access to Silicon Valley Technology Companies
The Consulate’s January 2018 report included another important disclosure.
It stated that, in recent years, the Consulate’s women’s group and Sunshine School had made use of the technological resources in the Consulate’s jurisdiction to organize activities for diplomats’ accompanying spouses and students.
The Consulate specifically listed visits to:
Tesla
Intel
Facebook https://mfa.gov.cn/zwbd_673032/fnhd_673048/201803/t20180323_7447614.shtml
Science and technology museums
These activities were presented as educational, cultural, and recreational programs intended to broaden the participants’ horizons and cultivate an interest in science and innovation among students.
However, the Tesla visit went beyond a conventional sightseeing tour: it included access to the vehicle delivery center, production lines, presentations about electric vehicle performance and manufacturing, and discussions with Tesla employees.
The Consulate subsequently brought its China-facing diplomatic contacts with Tesla to a meeting with the company’s Vice President for China.
5. Questions for Tesla
The Consulate General of Communist China in San Francisco publicly documented these activities on its official website. The records provide a timeline of institutional contact between the Consulate and Tesla:
October 16, 2017
Consulate women’s group visits Tesla’s Silicon Valley factory and Google’s headquarters campus
January 30, 2018
Qiao Li meets Tesla China Vice President Grace Tao at the Consulate
Tesla is an American technology and automotive company. Its relationship with Communist China’s diplomatic establishment deserves public scrutiny, particularly when the Consulate itself publicly described factory access, executive-level contacts, and proposed technological cooperation.
6.The San Francisco Consulate’s Tesla Contacts Predated the Shanghai Gigafactory
On October 16, 2017, the Consulate General of Communist China in San Francisco organized a visit by its women’s group to Tesla’s Silicon Valley factory. The delegation was led by Deputy Consul General Zhang Jianxin and Qiao Li, wife of Consul General Luo Linquan and head of the Consulate’s women’s group.
The delegation toured Tesla’s vehicle delivery center and automobile production lines, test-drove a new Tesla vehicle, received presentations about electric vehicle performance and manufacturing processes, and held discussions with Tesla employees.
On January 30, 2018, Qiao Li met with Tao Lin (Grace Tao), Tesla’s Vice President for China, at the Consulate General. Qiao recalled the October 2017 factory visit, thanked Tesla for its arrangements, and expressed the Consulate’s willingness to work with Tesla to promote technological innovation cooperation between Communist China and the United States in clean energy.
At that time, Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory had not yet begun construction.
According to the June 1, 2023 report by Sing Tao Headlines, Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory only began construction in January 2019. https://www.stheadline.com/zh-hans/realtime-china/3237923/%E9%A9%AC%E6%96%AF%E5%85%8B%E8%AE%BF%E5%8D%8E%E4%BB%8A%E5%87%8C%E6%99%A8%E8%AE%BF%E4%B8%8A%E6%B5%B7%E8%B6%85%E7%BA%A7%E5%B7%A5%E5%8E%82-%E6%88%96%E4%B8%BA%E5%8D%87%E7%BA%A7%E7%89%88Model-3%E6%8F%AD%E5%B9%95
By June 2023, the Shanghai factory had become Tesla’s largest global manufacturing facility.
The report provided the following figures:
August 13, 2022: The Shanghai Gigafactory produced its one-millionth vehicle.
2022: The factory produced approximately 726,000 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.
Its production accounted for approximately half of Tesla’s global vehicle deliveries that year.
April 2023: The factory delivered 75,842 vehicles, according to China Passenger Car Association data cited by the report.
On June 1, 2023, Tesla CEO Elon Musk visited the Shanghai Gigafactory after meeting senior Communist Chinese government officials in Beijing, including Foreign Minister Qin Gang, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, and Minister of Industry and Information Technology Jin Zhuanglong.
Tesla’s Shanghai operations had therefore grown substantially in the years following the San Francisco Consulate’s 2017–2018 contacts with the company.
Why the chronology matters
Timeline of the documented events
October 16, 2017
Communist China’s San Francisco Consulate women’s group visits Tesla’s Silicon Valley factory.
January 30, 2018
Qiao Li meets Tesla China Vice President Tao Lin and proposes clean-energy technology cooperation.
January 2019
Construction of Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory begins.
August 13, 2022
Shanghai Gigafactory produces its one-millionth vehicle.
June 1, 2023
Elon Musk visits the Shanghai factory following meetings with senior Communist Chinese officials.
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