US-China Relations Updates

Observer Network News) According to reports from American media outlets such as The Washington Observer and National Review magazine website, Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently made comments on the Taiwan issue during a public event, causing a strong reaction from Taiwan’s foreign affairs department.

He stated that despite Taiwan’s continuous efforts to promote its economic and political “independence,” the island is an inseparable part of China. He also mentioned that the United States has been obstructing the achievement of China’s reunification goals and hindering any form of unification efforts.

According to reports from American media, on Tuesday (12th), Musk participated in the “All-In Summit 2023,” a conference held at the University of California, Los Angeles, via video link. The summit was hosted by executives from a venture capital firm. During the event, Musk touched on various topics, ranging from criticizing the Anti-Defamation League to commenting on diplomatic relations, including issues related to China.

When asked by the moderator about his views on China and U.S.-China relations, Musk stated that he has been to China multiple times and has met with senior government officials, saying, “I think I understand China quite well.”

He then shifted the conversation to the Taiwan issue. Musk said, “The reunification of Taiwan is a fundamental issue for China. For over half a century, China’s policy has been to seek the return of the Taiwan region. From their perspective, perhaps Taiwan is like Hawaii or other similar places for the United States.”

Musk added that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China, but the island “stubbornly denies belonging to China,” which is related to the United States’ involvement and its “prevention of any form of unification effort.”

The Washington Observer reported that Musk also issued a warning to the United States, comparing China’s “growing” military capabilities to the “stagnant” military power of the United States. He believed that China’s military strength in the Taiwan Strait region will surpass that of the United States in the “not-too-distant future,” and that it will be difficult for the United States to “protect” Taiwan. He stated that China’s reunification is only a matter of time. Musk’s candid remarks have sparked discussions and have deeply angered Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party authorities. Wu Zhaoxie, the head of Taiwan’s foreign affairs department, expressed his fury on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on the 13th and attempted to provoke Musk by bringing up the recent controversial news about “Musk shutting down ‘Starlink’ to prevent Ukrainian military from attacking the Russian fleet.”

This is not the first time Musk has talked about this topic. In May, during an interview with CNBC, he bluntly stated that “the reunification of Taiwan is the official policy of mainland China,” and that there is no need for further interpretation, but it should be taken seriously.

In October of last year, during an interview with the Financial Times, he also made a suggestion that the mainland could establish a reasonable and feasible special administrative region for Taiwan, stating that they might reach an agreement that is more lenient than that of Hong Kong. However, he mentioned that this “may not please everyone.”

At the time, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying responded by saying that on the premise of ensuring national sovereignty, security, and development interests, Taiwan can be implemented as a special administrative region with a high degree of autonomy, and the social system and way of life of the people in Taiwan will be fully respected, and their legitimate rights and interests will be fully guaranteed.

She stated that China’s reunification will not harm the legitimate interests of any country and will only bring more development opportunities to all countries, injecting more positive energy into the Asia-Pacific region and the world. China hopes to see more people understand and support the concept of “peaceful reunification” and “one country, two systems.”