Musk's proposal for China-Taiwan relations gets slammed: Our freedom is 'not for sale'

Elon Musk has weighed successful connected China-Taiwan relations, and Taiwanese politicians are not impressed.

The billionaire suggested an statement whereby China would person immoderate power implicit Taiwan, but the country's de facto ambassador to the U.S., Hsiao Bi-khim tweeted connected Saturday that the island's "freedom and ideology are not for sale."

Beijing views democratically self-ruled Taiwan arsenic a renegade state that needs to be reunified with the mainland. China has not ruled retired the usage of unit to bash so.

In an interrogation with the Financial Times published Saturday, Musk said his proposal "would beryllium to fig retired a peculiar administrative portion for Taiwan that is reasonably palatable, astir apt won't marque everyone happy."

"And it's possible, and I deliberation probably, successful fact, that they could person an statement that's much lenient than Hong Kong," helium added.

Hong Kong has been tally nether a argumentation of "one country, 2 systems" by China since it handover from Britain successful 1997. This has allowed the metropolis to tally arsenic a semi-autonomous portion nether Beijing's rule.

But critics person argued that the national information instrumentality passed successful 2020 successful Hong Kong has eroded immoderate of the freedoms promised nether the 1 country, 2 systems arrangement.

Musk's proposition was praised by Beijing but criticized by Taiwan.

On Saturday, Qin Gang, China's ambassador to the U.S., thanked Musk for his proposition of a peculiar administrative portion for Taiwan.

"Peaceful reunification and One Country, Two Systems are our basal principles for resolving the Taiwan question," helium said successful a tweet.

The ambassador added that Taiwan "will bask a precocious grade of autonomy arsenic a peculiar administrative region, and a immense abstraction for development."

However, Taiwan has repeatedly rejected a 1 country, 2 systems arrangement.

"Any lasting connection for our aboriginal indispensable beryllium determined peacefully, escaped from coercion, and respectful of the antiauthoritarian wishes of the radical of Taiwan," Hsiao added Saturday.

On Monday, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen delivered the National Day Address. She did not notation Musk's comments, but did speech astir relations with China.

"I privation to marque wide to the Beijing authorities that equipped confrontation is perfectly not an enactment for our 2 sides. Only by respecting the committedness of the Taiwanese radical to our sovereignty, democracy, and freedom, tin determination beryllium a instauration for resuming constructive enactment crossed the Taiwan Strait," Tsai said, according to an authoritative transcript of her speech.

"Provided determination is rationality, equality, and communal respect, we are consenting to enactment with the Beijing authorities to find a mutually agreeable statement for upholding bid and stableness successful the Taiwan Strait. This is our shared responsibility."

Musk, who runs electrical carmaker Tesla and is presently looking to adjacent a woody to bargain societal networking tract Twitter, has signifier erstwhile it comes to wading into geopolitics.

The billionaire drew the ire of Ukrainian politicians past week aft posting a canvass connected Twitter astir what helium claimed was the apt result of the warfare with Russia.

Musk has besides been precise flattering of China, 1 of Tesla's largest and astir captious markets and wherever its Shanghai Gigafactory is based.

One China expert said Musk's connection connected Taiwan "deserves a large woody of unpacking and possibly adjacent a spot of a world check."

"The lone occupation with this for Mr Musk is that the radical of Taiwan simply don't hold with that benignant of arrangement," Bates Gill of the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" connected Monday.

Gill suggested Musk whitethorn privation to instrumentality a person look astatine the nuances astir issues specified arsenic the narration betwixt China and Taiwan.

"The world's wealthiest antheral evidently feels helium has a batch to accidental connected these geopolitical questions. I would lone suggest that helium instrumentality a batch harder look astatine the realities, the humanities precedents and geopolitical contestation that situation each of these questions earlier giving america each a acquisition successful diplomacy," Gill said.