Taiwan To Elon Musk: 'Our Freedom And Democracy Are Not For Sale'

Taiwan’s de-facto ambassador came down heavily on Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk’s take on solving the cross-straits tensions with China by establishing a “special administrative zone” on the island claimed by Beijing.

What Happened: Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan’s representative to the United States said on Twitter over the weekend, “Taiwan sells many products, but our freedom and democracy are not for sale.”

“Any lasting proposal for our future must be determined peacefully, free from coercion, and respectful of the democratic wishes of the people of Taiwan.”

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Why It Matters: Musk weighed in on the China-Taiwan issue recently in an interview and gave his recommendation, which was to “figure out a special administrative zone for Taiwan that is reasonably palatable,” according to a prior report.

“It’s possible, and I think probably, in fact, that they could have an arrangement that’s more lenient than Hong Kong,” said Musk. 

The comments by Musk got praised by China’s ambassador to the United States Qin Gang, who said “One country, two systems is part of China’s basic principles for ‘resolving the Taiwan question.’”

"Big Short" investor Michael Burry expressed his bewilderment over Musk's opinion, tweeting, "I don't get it. We just saw what happened in Hong Kong."

Protests calling for democracy hit Hong Kong, an SAR for China, in 2019, leading to the imposition of a stringent national security law that effectively ended its high degree of autonomy.

Recently, Musk’s comments on suggestions to end the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war were criticized severely by a Ukrainian diplomat, who told him to “F**k Off.”

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Image created via photos by hyotographics on Shutterstock and NVIDIA Corporation on Flickr