- Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says Taiwan is “not for sale” and is not part of China.
- The news was in response to Elon Musk’s comments during the All-In Summit that Taiwan was an integral part of China.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, speaks at the Senate Bipartisan Artificial Intelligence (AI) Intelligence Forum on Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., U.S., Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023.
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Taiwan is “not for sale” and is not part of China, Taiwan’s foreign ministry said, condemning Elon Musk for calling the island “an integral part of China”.
“Listen, Taiwan is not part of the PRC, and certainly not for sale!” Foreign Minister of Taiwan Joseph Wu said late Wednesday On X, formerly known as Twitter. PRC stands for People’s Republic of China, the official name of China.
The message was in response to a comment Musk made during the news All-in SummitIt was recently held in Los Angeles.
“I think I understand China very well. I’ve been there many times and met with senior leaders at many levels… over the years,” Musk said. “As a foreigner of China, I think I have a good understanding.”
Taiwan has been governed independently from China since it split from the mainland in a civil war in 1949. Beijing views Taiwan as part of its territory, which it can forcefully rejoin the mainland if necessary.
Musk, CEO of X, SpaceX and electric car maker Tesla, went on to say that China’s policy “is to reconnect Taiwan with China. From their point of view, it could be analogous to Hawaii or something like that, an integral part of China that is not automatically part of China.”
CNBC could not immediately reach Musk for comment outside of office hours.
Wu also said in his tweet that he hoped Musk could ask the Chinese Communist Party to give access to X, which is currently banned in China.
“I hope Elon Musk can also ask the CCP to open up X to its people. He might think that banning it is a good policy, like disabling Starlink to thwart Ukraine’s counterattack against Russia,” Wu said.
In the early days of Russia’s war on Ukraine, Musk reportedly curtailed a Ukrainian military attack on Russia by restricting access to SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network. The move is aimed at Ukraine and Sen. It drew backlash from Elizabeth Warren.
This is not the first time Musk has drawn ire from the self-governing island.
Last October, the billionaire drew condemnation from Taiwan for his suggestion that tensions between China and Taiwan would be resolved if Beijing had any control over Taiwan.
