Musk messes it up with the suggestion that China has some control over Taiwan

Elon Musk has become Donald Trump's main rival to intervene publicly in any matter and force changes in the information cycles that pivot on him.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
10 October 2022 Monday 14:30
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Musk messes it up with the suggestion that China has some control over Taiwan

Elon Musk has become Donald Trump's main rival to intervene publicly in any matter and force changes in the information cycles that pivot on him. Musk and global geostrategy. First Ukraine, now Taiwan.

“Taiwan sells many products, but our freedom and democracy are not for sale,” replied Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan's de facto ambassador to the United States. Her words responded to "Musk's last." The richest man in the world intervened in the contentious China-Taiwan relationship, opting for the powerful, in an interview in the 'Financial Times' (FT) that caused great satisfaction to Beijing and left Taipei with a huge dose of anger.

The manufacturer of electric cars (Tesla), of space rockets (Space X) and aspiring to keep Twitter said in that interview that an agreement could be reached so that China would have some control over Taiwan. The Asian giant considers the island and its democratic system as a renegade province that must be reunited with the mainland. He has not ruled out the use of force to achieve that goal, while President Joe Biden has already warned that the United States will not allow it. Tensions soared last August when the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, paid a visit to the island. China responded by militarily encircling Taiwan with live-fire training.

In the FT, Musk stressed that "the recommendation would be to find a special administrative zone for Taiwan that is reasonably acceptable." He acknowledged that his suggestion, sensing the sensitivities of the moment, "will not make everyone happy."

“And it is possible, and I think likely, that there may be an agreement that is more lenient than Hong Kong,” he added. Right away, critics argued that the national security law passed in 2020 in Hong Kong has eroded the promises of freedom made under the one country, two systems theory.

But his contribution immediately received applause from the orbit of President Xi Jinping. "Peaceful reunification and one country, two systems are our principle to resolve the Taiwan issue," Qin Gang, China's ambassador to the US, tweeted. He thanked Musk for "the call for peace in the Strait of Taiwan" and for marking the route to a "special administration zone" for the island.

Just as it outraged the Ukrainians a few days ago with the proposal to definitively cede Crimea to Russia, as well as to hold referendums controlled by the United Nations in other territories occupied by Moscow, the inspiration on Taiwan caused anger among the island's leaders.

"Any proposal about our future must be determined peacefully, free of coercion and with democratic respect for the wishes of the people of Taiwan," insisted diplomat Hsiao Bi-khim.

This Monday, indirectly and without citing Musk, the president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, dismissed the idea in her nation day speech. “I want to make it clear to the authorities in Beijing that armed confrontation is absolutely not an option. Only by respecting the commitment of the people of my country to our sovereignty, democracy and freedom can constructive interaction continue across the Taiwan Strait,” she remarked.

“As long as there is rationality, equality and mutual respect, we are willing to work with Beijing and find an agreement that will maintain peace and stability. This is our shared responsibility,” he specified.

Musk has regularly maintained a flattering stance with China, one of Tesla's main markets, which has a huge factory in Shanghai. He has also been previously accused of ignoring human rights abuses in that country for the sake of his corporate profits.