The Taiwanese foreign minister called out Elon Musk after the tech billionaire again repeated Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda concerning Taiwan.
Musk spoke during an All-In Summit interview. “Their (Beijing) policy has been to unite Taiwan with China. Musk said that from their perspective, it’s like Hawaii, or something similar, an integral part that is arbitrarily excluded from China, mainly because the US Pacific Fleet stopped any sort of reunification efforts by force. Musk has said that Taiwan should be part of Communist China before. The last time he claimed this, the CCP gave Musk’s Tesla a tax-free status in China almost immediately. Musk may have a bad reputation, but he is good at making money.
The UK Guardian reported that Joseph Wu, Taiwan’s Foreign Minister, had responded with understandable anger. The Guardian reported that Musk’s comments came “as dozens of Chinese planes and warships were detected near Taiwan, suspected to be conducting military exercises”.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs published on X (formerly Twitter): “Hope that @elonmusk will also ask the CCP to open @X for its people.” He may think that banning it would be a good idea. Listen up! #Taiwan does not belong to the #PRC (People’s Republic of China) & is certainly not for sale. J[oseph]W[u]..” X is prohibited in China.
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. Listen up, #Taiwan is not part of the #PRC & certainly not for sale! JW https://t.co/HEhyTYYXFp
— 外交部 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ROC (Taiwan) 🇹🇼 (@MOFA_Taiwan) September 13, 2023
Wu cited a claim by Musk that he turned off Starlink in order to “thwart Ukraine’s counter-strike against Russia.” This claim has since been denied, according to reports. Wu has every right to criticize Musk’s views about Taiwan and the CCP. Taiwan is an independent and free nation while the CCP is an usurping, illegal, and murderous dictatorship.
According to a translation of this article by Beijing Channel and The Post Millennial, Musk wrote an August article for China Cyberspace. “A monthly magazine published by the Cyberspace Administration of China” (CAC), which is the central agency in charge of internet control and regulation. Musk’s article was an attempt to get the CCP interested in his microchips, artificial intelligence, and space travel. Musk announced this year that Tesla would be opening a new factory in China. Chinese law mandates that all foreign companies in China host CCP-affiliated cells. Musk told Bari Weiss, a journalist, that the CCP genocide against Uyghurs had “two sides”.
We are horrified when we learn that governments or companies worked with Nazis. They are condemned as complicity in mass murder. When businessmen like Musk profit from and kiss up to the CCP, the world’s greatest mass murderer, they are met with shocking apathy.
This is unacceptable. Musk’s dealings with CCP have compromised his integrity to the point of being unreliable. Elon Musk is not selling Taiwan, but he certainly will be.
