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Republican leader and US presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy raised alarm over Elon Musk’s talks with Chinese ministers during the Tesla CEO’s first trip to China in over three years. Mr. Ramaswamy alleged that China was manipulating important American business executives to “advance their agenda.”
Elon Musk stated his intention to expand his business in China during a meeting with China’s Foreign Minister on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he also complimented China’s “vitality and promise.”
According to a government statement, the billionaire used his meeting with Foreign Minister Qin Gang to express his opposition to the US decoupling from China, stating that the two countries’ interests were intertwined.
Mr Ramaswamy expressed alarm about Musk’s words, saying, “It’s highly troubling that Elon Musk met with China’s foreign minister yesterday to oppose decoupling and referred to the US and Communist China as “conjoined twins.” Tesla’s VP in China re-posted that comment on Weibo in China, but not in the United States.”
The Republican leader also stated that major US businesses promoting Beijing’s agenda tip the scales in China’s favour.
“This tilts the global perception scales in China’s favour – and, sadly, it’s working.” “The US needs leaders who aren’t in China’s pocket, but Biden is just another manifestation of that problem,” he stated in a tweet.
I’m breaking an unspoken rule in the GOP, but I call it like I see it: it’s deeply concerning that @elonmusk met with China’s foreign minister yesterday to oppose decoupling and referred to the U.S. & Communist China as “conjoined twins.” Tesla’s VP in China reposted that… pic.twitter.com/UD26pweilX
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) May 31, 2023
Musk’s first trip to China in three years takes place at a time when Tesla is dealing with escalating competition from Chinese-made electric vehicles and some ambiguity around expansion plans for the Shanghai facility.
Musk has received a lot of official backing for his Gigafactory in Shanghai, despite his past suggestion that Taiwan could be managed as a special administrative region of China. Shanghai’s municipal government promised earlier this month to strengthen relations with Tesla through self-driving cars and robot modules, accounting for over a fifth of the city’s entire automotive production value last year.
The CEO of Tesla is the most recent prominent US CEO to visit China since that nation altered its zero-COVID policy and unlocked its doors. While Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan and Laxman Narasimhan of Starbucks are also in China this week, Apple’s Tim Cook went in March.
