Musk thanked the Chinese ambassador, and reprimanded the Taiwanese diplomat over the Taiwan plan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China’s ambassador to the United States thanked Elon Musk for proposing a special administration zone for Taiwan, while Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to Washington reprimanded the billionaire, saying “freedom and democracy are not for sale.”

“Taiwan sells many products, but our freedom and democracy are not for sale,” Hsiao Pei Khim, Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to Washington, chirp on Saturday. “Any permanent proposal for our future should be decided peacefully, free from coercion, and respectful of the democratic wishes of the people of Taiwan.”

China’s ambassador to the United States, Qin Gang, stressed Beijing’s call for the “peaceful reunification and ‘one country, two systems'” of the island in tweet On Saturday with thanksgiving Musk.

Days after touting a possible deal to end the war between Russia and Ukraine that was condemned in Ukraine, Musk suggested that tensions between China and Taiwan could be resolved by handing over some control of Taiwan to Beijing.

“My recommendation… would be to designate a special administrative region for Taiwan that would be reasonably acceptable, and probably not make everyone happy,” Musk told the Financial Times in an interview published Friday.

Musk was responding to a question about China, where his Tesla car is (TSLA.O) An electric car company that runs a large factory.

Beijing, which claims Taiwan as one of its provinces, has vowed to bring Taiwan under its control and has not ruled out the use of force to do so. Taiwan’s democratically governed government vehemently opposes China’s claims to sovereignty and says only the island’s 23 million residents can decide its future.

In tweets posted on Saturday, the Chinese ambassador wrote: “I would like to thank @elonmusk for his call for peace across the Taiwan Strait and his idea of ​​creating a special administrative region for Taiwan.”

“In fact, peaceful reunification and one country, two systems are our basic principles for resolving the Taiwan question… and the best approach to achieving national reunification,” he added.

“Provided that China’s sovereignty, security and development interests are guaranteed, Taiwan after reunification will enjoy a high degree of autonomy as a special administrative region and a wide area for development,” the ambassador wrote.

China offered Taiwan a “one country, two systems” model of autonomy similar to Hong Kong’s, but this model was rejected by all major political parties in Taiwan and has little popular support, especially after Beijing imposed a strict national security law. in Hong Kong in 2020.

(Reporting by Arshad Muhammad and Kanishka Singh). Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Lincoln Fest.

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