After Tesla CEO Elon Musk characterized Taiwan as an “integral part of China,” Taiwan’s Foreign Minister reacted furiously, saying Taiwan was “not for sale.”
Musk stated at the “All In” Summit on Wednesday, “China has, really for like half a century or so or maybe longer at this point, their policy has been to reunite Taiwan with China. From this standpoint, it maybe is analogous to Hawaii or something like that, like an integral part of China that is arbitrarily not part of China – mostly because the US Pacific Fleet has stopped any sort of unification effort by force.”
Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu started by referring to the fact that X, formerly called Twitter, is blocked in China, as well as reports that Musk refused to let Ukraine use SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network to aid a prospective attack on Russia’s Black Sea fleet.
“Hope @ElonMusk can also ask the CCP to open @X to its people. Perhaps he thinks banning it is a good policy, like turning off @Starlink to thwart Ukraine’s counterstrike against Russia,” Wu tweeted, continuing, “Listen up, Taiwan is not part of the [People’s Republic of China] & certainly not for sale!”
In October 2022, Musk angered Taiwan after he told the Financial Times that Taiwan should be a “special administrative zone” controlled by China. “My recommendation…would be to figure out a special administrative zone for Taiwan that is reasonably palatable, probably won’t make everyone happy,” he speculated.
Bi-khim Hsiao, Taiwan’s representative to the U.S. fired back, “Taiwan sells many products, but our freedom and democracy are not for sale. Any lasting proposal for our future must be determined peacefully, free from coercion, and respectful of the democratic wishes of the people of Taiwan.”
China is Tesla’s second-largest market; half of Tesla’s cars are produced there. Over one-quarter of Tesla’s revenue reportedly comes from China; in 2019, Tesla was the first foreign automaker to open an independent factory in China.
In July, China accused the United States, which had approved $440 million in military equipment in a sale to Taiwan, of paving the way for war. “This is tantamount to accelerating the transformation of Taiwan into a ‘powder keg’ and pushing the Taiwanese people into the abyss of disaster,” Chinese Defense Ministry Spokesman Col. Tan Kefei stated.
Taiwan has been independent since 1949; China believes Taiwan is a part of China. The United States has not yet recognized Taiwan’s formal independence.
