It was a simple podcast show that angered Taipei. This Thursday, September 14, Taiwan accused Elon Musk of “blindly flattering” Beijing after the American billionaire described the autonomous island as an “integral part” of China and as military pressure increases.
“If (his) comments are influenced by his commercial interests, such comments do not deserve to be taken seriously and the person making them does not deserve respect,” Jeff Liu, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “We don’t know if Mr. Musk’s free will is for sale, but Taiwan is not for sale, that’s for sure.”
Foreign Minister attacks Musk
Beijing considers the autonomous island as part of its territory which it could one day seize by force. In recent years, China has intensified its political and economic pressure on Taiwan.
Jeff Liu’s statements come after those of Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, who attacked the Tesla CEO in a publication on the social network X (formerly Twitter) belonging to the tycoon. He suggested asking Beijing to allow the Chinese to have access.
“I hope Elon Musk can also ask the Chinese Communist Party to allow its people to have access to satellite communication) Starlink to thwart Ukraine’s counterattack against Russia,” Joseph Wu wrote. Last week, Elon Musk claimed to have prevented a Ukrainian attack on a Russian navy base last year in refusing a request from Kiev to activate Internet access via its satellite in the Black Sea, near Crimea annexed by Moscow.
Taiwan must “be integrated”
Elon Musk had already angered Taipei in May for declaring that China would inevitably integrate the island. “China’s official policy is that Taiwan must be integrated […] There is no need to read between the lines,” he said in an interview with CNBC. “There is a certain inevitability to this situation,” he said.
The outspoken Musk, who has significant business interests in China, frequently wades into social and geopolitical issues in comments he posts on his social media.
Increasing military pressure
These statements come as the island faces constant pressure from China in recent days. Dozens of military aircraft and 10 warships have been detected near the coast of Taiwan over the past 24 hours, the island’s authorities said Thursday. According to the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense, these aircraft are conducting “joint maritime and air training” in the Western Pacific.
It said in a statement Thursday that 68 Chinese military planes and 10 ships were detected between Wednesday morning and Thursday morning near the island. This figure includes the 35 planes that had been detected by Taipei on Wednesday morning.
The Ministry of Defense then claimed that these aircraft were heading to the Western Pacific to join the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong as part of training.