Alex Bruno
Elon Musk said on Tuesday that Taiwan should join China, and the prime of that country responded by saying the billionaire “doesn’t know anything” about the autonomous island. The wealthiest man in the world has incited resentment in Taiwan as a result of a Financial Times interview he did that touched on Taiwan’s tense relationship with its enormous neighbor.
Beijing constantly threatens to invade Taiwan because it considers democracy to be a part of its territory that will one day be annexed.
During a Sunday episode of “60 Minutes,” former chief of Taiwan’s military forces Admiral Lee Hsi-min warned Lesley Stahl that “this is not a matter of if they will invade, it’s a matter of when they will invade” amid rising tensions between the democratic, self-governing island and China.
Musk stated his opinion that Taiwan should reach a “fairly agreeable” arrangement with Beijing to become a “special administrative zone” of China in an interview with the Financial Times that was published on Friday.
Beijing manages Hong Kong and Macau using that approach. Although the great majority of Taiwanese have consistently rejected it, Beijing’s authorities have long advocated the same model for Taiwan.
On Tuesday, Premier Su Tseng-chang, the second-highest-ranking politician in Taiwan behind the president, responded to Musk’s views by dismissing them.
Su said in a parliamentary session that Musk is a businessman. A businessman may say one thing today and another tomorrow. He owns a sizable car plant in Shanghai and wants to advertise his electric automobiles.
Su said, “Musk just talks for himself but he truly knows very little about Taiwan and also doesn’t comprehend cross-strait interactions.
The majority of Taiwanese people, according to polls, are not interested in having China as their ruler. This sentiment has become stronger as a result of Beijing’s extensive political repression in Hong Kong.
Musk is a well-known corporate figure for being quite vocal, particularly on Twitter, where he routinely engages in social and geopolitical issues.
Many Chinese officials, notably Beijing’s envoy to Washington Qin Gang, hailed his remarks on Taiwan. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Musk engaged in a social media fight last week over Musk’s suggestions for halting Russia’s incursion.
Musk put out the idea for a peace solution that would include re-running annexation referendums in Moscow-occupied Ukrainian areas under the supervision of the United Nations, recognizing Russian sovereignty over the Crimean peninsula, and granting neutral status to Ukraine. Andriy Melnyk, the ambassador of Kiev to Germany, responded curtly: “F*** off is my very polite reaction to you.”
Source: CBSNews
