- Taiwan is “not for sale” and is not part of China, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said.
- The message was in response to a comment made by Elon Musk during the All-In Summit that Taiwan is an integral part of China.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, at a bipartisan Senate artificial intelligence (AI) forum on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, September 13, 2023.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | fake images
Taiwan is “not for sale” and is not part of China either, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said, in a rebuke to Elon Musk, who called the island “an integral part of China.”
“Listen, Taiwan is not part of the People’s Republic of China and is certainly not for sale!” Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said Wednesday night on X, also formerly known as Twitter. PRC refers to the People’s Republic of China, the official name of China.
The message was in response to a comment made by Musk during the Total Summitwhich was recently held in Los Angeles.
“I think I understand China well. I’ve been there many times and met with senior leaders at many levels… for many years,” Musk said. “I think I understand myself pretty well as an outsider in China.”
Taiwan has been governed independently of China since the island broke away from the mainland in a civil war in 1949. Beijing continues to view Taiwan as part of its territory that must be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.
Musk, CEO of X, SpaceX and electric car maker teslaHe went on to say: China’s policy “has been to reunite Taiwan with China. From their point of view, maybe it’s analogous to Hawaii or something, like an integral part of China that is arbitrarily not part of China.”
CNBC could not immediately reach Musk for comment outside of office hours.
Wu, in his tweet, added that he hoped Musk could also ask the Chinese Communist Party to allow its people access to X, which is currently banned in China.
“I hope Elon Musk can also ask the CCP to open
In the early days of Russia’s war against Ukraine, Musk had reportedly reduced a Ukrainian military attack on Russia by limiting access to SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network. The measure provoked negative reactions from Ukraine and Elizabeth Warren.
This is not the first time Musk has drawn the ire of the self-governing island.
Last October, the billionaire also drew rebuke from Taiwan for his suggestion that tensions between China and Taiwan could be resolved if Beijing had some control over Taiwan.