Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, drew ire from Taipei and praise from Beijing after proposing the creation of a "special administrative zone" around the self-governing island of Taiwan.
Taiwan's de facto ambassador to Washington was quick to reprimand the tech billionaire, saying that the island nation's freedom and democracy were not up for sale. The official, Hsiao Bi-khim, posted a tweet on Saturday, saying that Taiwan sells many products, but not its freedom and democracy.
Musk on China, Taiwan Tensions
Hsiao said that any lasting proposal for the future must be determined peacefully and free from coercion while being respectful of the democratic wishes of the people of Taiwan. On the other hand, China's ambassador to the United States, Qin Gang, emphasized Beijing's calls for "peaceful reunification."
The official also stressed China's view of "one country, two systems" for the island nation in a tweet while thanking Musk for his idea. The situation comes a few days after the tech CEO floated a possible deal to end the war between Russia and Ukraine that drew criticism from the latter, as per Yahoo News.
Musk's recent suggestion sought to resolve tensions between China and Taiwan by handing over some control of Taipei to Beijing. In an interview published on Friday, the billionaire said that a special administrative zone for Taiwan is reasonably palatable but noted that it would not make everyone happy.
Beijing has long vowed to retake control of Taiwan and has not ruled out the use of force to do so. However, Democratically-ruled Taiwan's government strongly objects to China's sovereignty claims and says that only the island's 23 million people can decide its future.
According to The Hill, in 1997, Hong Kong won independence from England and is now governed under its one country, two systems rule. This allowed it to ostensibly operate independently from China.
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Controversial Remarks
However, in the past two years, Beijing-backed leaders have orchestrated a brutal crackdown on dissent in the city-state. Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Wang Ting-yu said that individual independent companies cannot take their ownership as a joke.
Other lawmakers also criticized Musk's comments as tone deaf and noted that Taiwan needs to protect its sovereign rights amid threats of a Chinese invasion. The threat became even more possible after United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the self-governing island nation.
On the other hand, U.S. President Joe Biden repeatedly made diplomatic waves in recent months with his pledges to send American troops to help defend Taiwan in the case of a Chinese attack.
Last month, the U.S. Senate passed a bill out of committee that would authorize $4.5billion to Taipei over the course of four years. It would also designate the country as a major non-NATO ally.
Musk's comments on the Beijing and Taiwan issue followed remarks he made regarding Russia and Ukraine. He suggested on Monday that four regions that Russia annexed should hold repeat votes organized by the United Nations. Many viewed the billionaire's comments as crossing the red line, the Associated Press reported.
