Known for his often controversial (and sometimes even outrageous) statements, the billionaire spoke again about Taiwan. And he again fell foul of the authorities in Taipei. In the interview, the billionaire explained China’s policy and compared Taiwan to Hawaii. He, in turn, blamed the conflict on… the American army.
Elon Musk: Taiwan is like Hawaii. The billionaire is talking nonsense again
Musk commented on the China-Taiwanese conflict in one of the recordings that appeared on YouTube this week. The billionaire decided to explain the Chinese point of view on the situation. In his opinion, China (mainland) seeks “unification” because it recognizes Taiwan as an integral part of its territory, just as the US recognizes Hawaii as such.
I think I understand China quite well. (…) Their policy was to reunify Taiwan with China. From their point of view, it may be analogous to Hawaii [i USA – red.] or something like that. It’s like an integral part of China that didn’t actually become part of China, mainly because the US Pacific fleet forcibly stopped all unification efforts.
– said Elon Musk.
To clarify, both the Republic of China (on the island of Taiwan) and the People’s Republic of China (on the mainland) consider themselves the sole legal successor of China. China divided into two parts after communist forces (today the People’s Republic of China) occupied Chinese territory in 1949. The former authorities fled to Taiwan, where they wanted to continue the existence of the Republic of China. Despite its efforts, the People’s Republic of China failed to occupy Taiwan, including: precisely because of the American military’s aid to Taiwan.
Taiwan replies: We are not for sale
Elon Musk’s words, of course, caused outrage in Taiwan. The local Minister of Foreign Affairs stated (quoted) that, contrary to the billionaire’s claims, “Taiwan is not for sale.” Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in turn, wrote on the X platform that Elon Musk should rather ask China to unblock X in the country’s territory, unless he considers censoring social media to be a good practice. X – like most Western social media (including Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, etc.) and English-language newspapers – is blocked in China by Chinese censors.
We hope that Elon Musk can also ask China to make X available to its citizens. Unless he thinks banning him (X) is good policy, just like shutting down Starlinks to Ukraine in order to thwart a counterattack against Russia. Listen, Taiwan is not part of the People’s Republic of China and is definitely not for sale!
– wrote Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
More provocations from China. And another statement by Musk
As “The Guardian” notes, Musk’s statement coincided with further provocations from China. This week, Taiwan had to scramble its fighters after 28 Chinese warplanes unexpectedly flew into the country’s air defense identification zone. The machines were tracked by air defense systems, but they left Taiwan on their own. 20 Chinese ships were also detected at sea preparing for exercises in this region. Similar situations have occurred many times in recent months. Beijing still maintains that Taiwan is a “rebellious province” and will be “unified” with China. Tensions between Beijing and Taipei have escalated following Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
It is also worth recalling that this is not the first statement by Elon Musk that is consistent with the Chinese narrative and irrational from the point of view of the democratic world. In October 2022, the richest man in the world proposed that Musk would soon want to hand over Crimea to Russia, organize referendums in Donbas and ensure a neutral status for Ukraine.
Source: Gazeta
Mabel is a talented author and journalist with a passion for all things technology. As an experienced writer for the 247 News Agency, she has established a reputation for her in-depth reporting and expert analysis on the latest developments in the tech industry.
