Why Chinese government officials thanked Elon Musk – Times of India

Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently received thanks from Chinese government officials for what is seen as a ‘pro-China’ viewpoint on Taiwan which he shared as part of an interview with The Financial Times. In the interview, Musk said that Taiwan should be basically under the control of China, with a “more lenient” arrangement than Hong Kong.
“My recommendation… would be to figure out a special administrative zone for Taiwan that is reasonably palatable, probably won’t make everyone happy. And it’s possible, and I think probably, in fact, that they could have an arrangement that’s more lenient than Hong Kong,” Musk is quoted as saying.

In response, Qin Gang, the Chinese ambassador to the United States, tweeted, “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 and the best approach to realizing national reunification.”

In response to a Reuters query over Elon Musk’s Taiwan comments, Mao Ning, spokesperson to China’s Foreign Ministry, said in an official statement: “The Taiwan question is China’s 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 and aim to work with the greatest sincerity and effort to achieve peaceful reunification. 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.”