14-9-2023 (TAIPEI) Taiwan’s Foreign Minister delivered a resolute message in response to Elon Musk’s recent assertion that Taiwan is an integral part of China, firmly stating that the island is “not for sale.” The exchange occurred as Musk delved into the complex issue of relations between Beijing and Taipei during the All-In Summit in Los Angeles, the footage of which was uploaded to YouTube this week.
Musk, the owner of the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), as well as the Tesla electric car company and the Starlink satellite network, remarked on the matter, saying, “(Beijing’s) policy has been to reunite Taiwan with China. From their standpoint, maybe it is analogous to Hawaii or something like that, like an integral part of China that is arbitrarily not part of China mostly because … the US Pacific Fleet has stopped any sort of reunification effort by force.”
In response to Musk’s comments, Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu took to X in a post late on Wednesday, suggesting that Musk could urge China to “open X to its people.” It’s worth noting that China has blocked X, along with other prominent Western social media platforms such as Facebook.
Wu went on to add, “Perhaps he thinks banning it is a good policy, like turning off Starlink to thwart Ukraine’s counterstrike against Russia,” referencing Musk’s refusal to activate his Starlink satellite network in Crimea’s port city of Sevastopol last year, at the request of Ukraine, to assist in an attack on Russia’s fleet.
In a definitive statement, Wu emphasized, “Listen up, Taiwan is not part of the PRC & certainly not for sale!” He used the acronym for the People’s Republic of China. Taiwan’s democratically elected government staunchly rejects China’s sovereignty claims and maintains that only the people of Taiwan have the right to determine their future.
This is not the first instance of Musk stirring controversy related to Taiwan. In October of the previous year, he suggested that tensions between China and Taiwan could potentially be resolved by transferring some control of Taiwan to Beijing. This previous comment also garnered a robust rebuke from Taiwan.
