Taiwanese politicians rejected the statements of Elon Musk, the richest person in the world, that Allowing China some control of the island would resolve the cross-strait disputeHe urged him to respect the wishes of Taiwan compatriots.

Musk’s proposal “to define a special administrative region for Taiwan In an interview with the Financial Times on Saturday, he welcomed China’s ambassador to the United States.

Ambassador Chen Gang said that “peaceful reunification and ‘one country, two systems’ are our basic principles for resolving the Taiwan issue… and the best approach to achieving national reunification.”

The Chinese government claims that Taiwan is a province, and has threatened to annex it by force if it cannot be “unified” with the mainland peacefully. Taiwan asserts that it is an independent nation and has vowed to resist any attempt of invasion or annexation.

Musk’s comments, offered without further details, united the contentious political environment in Taiwan with their rejection.

“Taiwan’s freedom and democracy are not for sale,” said Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the United States, Hsiao Bi-Kim.

“Any permanent proposal for our future must be determined peacefully, free from coercion, and respectful of the democratic wishes of the people of Taiwan.”

The Mainland Affairs Council said Taiwan, which has the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturers, has worked with Tesla for a long time. The board told Bloomberg Musk that Bloomberg’s proposal was “based on investment interests to transform a democratic state into a private administration.” She invited Musk to see how the free market evolved differently from authoritarian China.

Musk made his proposal, which he believed would include a “more lenient” arrangement from Hong Kong, in response to a question about the impact of any dispute involving China on his Tesla plant in Shanghai, which is said to have produced about half of last year’s global supply of Tesla cars. He said the conflict over Taiwan was “inevitable” and that the global economy would be affected by 30%.

Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou said: “The opinion of Elon Musk means ‘one country, two systems.'” I can’t accept that.”

Candidates for the upcoming Taipei mayoral race, which is often seen as a pipeline for future presidential candidates, also criticized Musk.

Chen Shih-chung, a candidate for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, said Musk’s comments were “ill-thought-out and underestimated and could affect our national security.”

“Elon Musk made a revolutionary change through Tesla and SpaceX, he even helped Ukraine against the Russian dictatorship through Starlink,” he said, referring to the availability of satellite Internet for Musk in Ukraine. “I call on Elon to uphold the same democratic values ​​with regard to Taiwan.”

Chiang Wan – Chen’s opponent from the nationalist Kuomintang Party said the Republic of China (Taiwan’s official name) is an independent, sovereign country.

Former minister Lin Xia Long accused Musk of being “thirsty for the Chinese market”.

“Musk trades with Satan and we will not be affected by his word.” He went on to say that Musk knew that such a proposal would put Taiwan in the same position as Hong Kong or Tibet.

Beijing has suggested it would rule Taiwan under the same regime as Hong Kong, and Taiwan has promised to keep some freedoms, but few on the island think so.

The vast majority of Taiwan citizens reject the idea of ​​unity with China, and an increasing number of people support complete independence.

Taiwanese politicians point to Beijing’s crackdown on dissent and dissent in Hong Kong, which has only gotten halfway through the promised 50 years of “a high degree of autonomy” as evidence that they will not remain free.

Beijing’s threats against Taiwan have increased in recent years. In August, the army of the Communist Party of Taiwan besieged Taiwan and conducted live-fire exercises in response to a visit to Taiwan by United States President Nancy Pelosi. Chinese officials later said that the exercises demonstrated the kind of blockade they might one day use against Taiwan, that the Taiwanese people would undergo “re-education” after the invasion, and that defenders of independence would be punished under Chinese law.

Musk sparked outrage earlier this month with another foray into geopolitics, This indicates that Ukraine will permanently cede Crimea to Russia In order to bring peace to the conflict sparked by the Russian invasion in February.

Tesla has Previously accused of ignoring human rights violations in Chinaafter it opened a showroom in Xinjiang in January.

Musk also said in the interview that Beijing had requested assurances from him that he would not offer Starlink service in China. Beijing is closely allied with Russia.

Additional reporting by Chi Hui Lin