Tesla co-founder previously suggested Taiwan should become a ‘special administrative zone’ in China

Elon Musk, the owner of X/Twitter, was called out on his platform by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs after calling the island nation an “integral part of China” and insisting that he understands “China well.”

Mr Musk made the comments on the “All In” podcast while answering a question about China and the future of his involvement with the nation.

During the interview, Mr Musk said “I think I understand China well,” and notes that he’s been there several times and has met with high-ranking officials.

He then turns his attention to Taiwan, and compares its relationship to China to Hawaii’s relationship to the US, insisting it is "an integral part of China that is arbitrarily not part of China”.

That comparison is flawed in two major ways: first, Hawaii is not a contested region, but is unquestionably a US state with all the same powers and freedoms granted any other US state; second, Taiwan’s assertion that it is its own state is not arbitrary, but instead a position it has held for decades.

152 points
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suggested Taiwan should become a ‘special administrative zone’ in China

Yes, because that worked so perfectly for Hong Kong. 🤥

I bet China would embrace such a deal happily even with eager, wait a few years, and then force full integration.

Musk is such an idiot, that I lack words to describe it. He has been convinced (bribed) by China to spew shit in all directions regarding Ukraine and Taiwan, he is 100% an undeclared foreign agent of the worst kind.

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54 points

He has a clear financial interest due the Tesla factories in China and the amount of cars sold there.

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18 points

Yes, and I bet China is leveraging that, and Musk falls for it.

But I doubt it surpasses USA and Europe combined. Which should be his real interests, and probably would be, if we used similar methods the Chinese do.

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17 points

According to this Tesla’s sales breaks down like this in 2022:

  • 50% USA
  • 25% China
  • 25% Other countries combined

That’s a significant chunk of its business.

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19 points

then force full integration.

Don’t be silly, China is a democratic country… they would hold a vote, like they did with HongKong: 99% for, 1 against. Totally democratic. 🤫

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8 points

It’s really sad, because China was making good progress before Xi Jinping became president.

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7 points

president dictator

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-8 points
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Arguably, Hong Kong is more democratic today than when it was administered as a colony under the British Crown.

Under British rule, the Queen appointed a governor of Hong Kong, who himself appointed virtually the entire legislative branch. They did not have elections.

Today 20 out of 90 legislative seats are elected, and from my limited understanding is essentially governed under a system evolved from British rule.

You’d think Americans of all people would also hate British Rule.

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11 points

CCP is probably worse than British rule.

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9 points

The UK wanted to introduce full democracy in Hong Kong prior to the handover to China in 1997. China’s response was to threaten to send in the tanks.

Hong Kong has zero democracy today, the majority of the Legco seats are unelected, and those that are elected, Beijing nominated all the candidates.

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3 points

I think both are bad. I don’t care if it’s “slightly better” they shouldn’t be occupied. Full stop.

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109 points

This guy really doesn’t know when and how to shut up.

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33 points

It’s intentional

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16 points

Yeah, I think people underestimating Musk is extremely dangerous.

Everyone underestimated Trump too and gave him 24/7 coverage because of how “stupid” he was.

Assume a powerful enemy is intelligent, or you’ll not understand how they got their power and will be perplexed as to how they grow it and how they will abuse it.

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4 points

When relentless coverage of terrible people, and their insane words/actions, results in said people winning fair elections, I think the intelligence of the electorate might be the biggest problem.

But yes, that’s beside the point, as is their growing mental illnesses and instability. The wealth/power they’ve been allowed to accumulate will always make them a danger/threat that should be taken seriously.

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17 points

I’m just wondering why the U.S. DoJ isn’t doing anything about it.

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36 points

Same reason the IRS spends all their time auditing poor people who made mistakes instead of auditing one billionaire for year. The metrics they’re graded on aren’t based on quality, they’re based on quantity. Going after a billionaire is expensive, and sure, it would have lasting positive impact, but they’re graded on number of cases closed

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11 points

Sure, but poor people aren’t having influence over tense geopolitical situations.

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10 points
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Well…this musk person is a well paid shill so…uhm yeah

¯_(ツ)_/¯

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2 points
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54 points

I’m just sitting here waiting for Elon to go bald so he can finally come out as Lex Luthor.

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67 points

He already did. Then he paid a bunch of money to get the hair back.

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13 points

Thats what $200 billion is for

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4 points
19 points

He wishes he was Lex Luthor lol

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1 point

At some point DC started to design Luther after Trump. Now hear me out; if you happen to watch Harley Quinn, I believe that this is what they are trying to do with Luther right now. They are shaping him into a Musk lookalike.

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50 points

Hawaii was occupied and taken. Taiwan was not.

That Mao captured the mainland does not make the island conquered. Or annexed.

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3 points

If Beijing sends in a fruit magnate, Taiwan should start worrying!

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49 points
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5 points

He does seem to have a few fetishes. Makes sense.

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