Beijing and Taipei have spoken out after Tesla chief executive Elon Musk
said Taiwan should become a special administrative zone of China.
The world's richest man said in a Financial Times interview he believed the two governments could reach a "reasonably palatable"
arrangement.
China's ambassador to the US praised Musk but his Taiwanese counterpart
said freedom was "not for sale".
Taiwan rules itself but Beijing claims it as part of its territory.
Mr Musk's comments come as the electric car maker hit a monthly record for
sales in China.
He weighed in on heightened China-Taiwan tensions in a wide-ranging
interview with the UK business newspaper the Financial Times, which was
published on Friday.
"My recommendation... would be to figure out a special administrative zone
for Taiwan that is reasonably palatable, probably won't make everyone
happy," he said.
"And it's possible, and I think probably, in fact, that they could have an
arrangement that's more lenient than Hong Kong."
I would like to thank @elonmusk for his call for peace across the Taiwan Strait and his idea about establishing a special administrative zone for Taiwan. Actually, Peaceful reunification and One Country, Two Systems are our basic principles for resolving the Taiwan question... https://t.co/KYH1Gsu3Um
— Qin Gang 秦刚 (@AmbQinGang) October 8, 2022
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter
On Saturday, China's ambassador to the US Qin Gang welcomed Mr Musk's
suggestion to establish Taiwan as a special administrative zone.
He said on Twitter that "peaceful reunification" and the "one country two systems" model used in governing Hong Kong were China's "basic principles for resolving the Taiwan question".
"Provided that China's sovereignty, security and development interests are
guaranteed, after reunification Taiwan will enjoy a high degree of autonomy
as a special administrative region, and a vast space for development," he
added.
·
What is "one country, two systems"?
In response, Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan's de facto ambassador to Washington said
on Twitter: "Taiwan sells many products, but our freedom and democracy are
not for sale."
"Any lasting proposal for our future must be determined peacefully, free
from coercion, and respectful of the democratic wishes of the people of
Taiwan," Ms Hsiao added.
Shihoko Goto, director for geoeconomics and Indo-Pacific enterprise at the
Wilson Center in Washington DC, told the BBC that Mr Musk's suggestions
could hurt his business interests.
"Let's bear in mind that Elon Musk is supposedly on the brink of purchasing Twitter. Of course, Twitter is banned in China because free speech is not allowed in China," Ms Goto said.
"So if he is investing in Twitter, his company will probably not be able to
operate in a Taiwan that is going to be under pressure or under the thumb of
China. That would be a suicidal act on the part of Elon Musk," she
added.
China sees self-ruled Taiwan as a breakaway province that will eventually
be under Beijing's control.
Meanwhile, Tesla delivered 83,135 China-made electric vehicles in
September, according to a report released on Sunday by the China Passenger
Car Association.
That broke the previous record set by the company in June and marked a
milestone for Tesla's factory in Shanghai which has been trying to boost
production.
Last week, Mr Musk also drew criticism for posting a Twitter poll with his suggestions for ending the war
between Russia and Ukraine, including Kyiv giving up territory to
Moscow.
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