Officials from China and Taiwan have fought recently over an uninvited suggestion from entrepreneur Elon Musk as tensions between the two nations reach a new high.
Elon Musk indicated in an interview that tensions between Taipei and Beijing could be settled if Taipei ceded some authority over the democratically-governed island to Beijing, drawing praise from China and expected indignation in Taiwan.
“My advice,” Elon said, “would be to find out a special administrative zone for Taiwan that is reasonably palatable, probably won’t please everyone.”
And it’s plausible, and I believe they very well may have a more forgiving arrangement than Hong Kong.
In a tweet Saturday, China’s ambassador to the United States, Qin Gang, congratulated Musk for his proposal and called for more “peaceful unification and one country, two systems.”
However, Taiwan’s US representative, Bi-khim Hsiao, stated that “Taiwan sells numerous items, but our freedom and democracy are not for sale.”
Despite never having administered Taiwan, China’s governing Chinese Communist Party regards it as part of its territory and has long threatened to “reunify” the island with the Chinese mainland, using force if necessary. Taiwan, a 23-million-person democracy, firmly opposes Beijing’s claims to the island.
Beijing has proposed a “one nation, two systems” governing arrangement for Taiwan, similar to that of Hong Kong, but it has been rejected by all of the island’s prominent political parties, and it has had very little popular support.
In a press conference on October 7, China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning stated that the “Taiwan question is a internal affair.”
“China’s position on resolving the Taiwan question is consistent and clear. We remain committed to the basic principle of peaceful reunification and ‘one country, two systems, he said “At the same time, we will resolutely defeat attempts to pursue the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist agenda, push back interference by external forces, and safeguard our sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen speaks at an event to honor the island’s National Day on October 10, 2022, in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei.
In her National Day speech, President Tsai asserts that there is “no room for compromise” regarding Taiwan’s sovereignty. In a Facebook post on Saturday, Wang Ting-yu, a prominent member of Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party, blasted Musk. He said, “Musk’s solution is totally built on victim compromises.
Musk’s comments on Taiwan come days after he infuriated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky by tweeting a “peace” proposal between Russia and Ukraine, urging that Kiev permanently cede Crimea to Moscow and hold new referendums in Russian-annexed territory — this time under UN supervision.
Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, converses while attending a ceremony.