{"id":1314,"date":"2025-03-21T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-21T15:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asian-idol.com\/?p=1314"},"modified":"2025-03-28T11:49:14","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T11:49:14","slug":"are-elon-musks-china-ties-a-national-security-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/asian-idol.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/21\/are-elon-musks-china-ties-a-national-security-risk\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Elon Musk\u2019s China ties a national security risk?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Exhibition-goers

A Cybertruck on display at a Tesla exhibition in Shanghai, China, in 2024.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Elon Musk has opinions on how a lot of the world\u2019s countries should be run. <\/p>\n

He has weighed in on elections<\/a> in Germany on behalf of a far-right party, sparred with the government <\/a>of his native South Africa, and called for the removal of the president of Ukraine<\/a>, not to mention the two-month siege<\/a> he has waged against America\u2019s federal bureaucracy. <\/p>\n

But one country tends to get a pass from the world\u2019s richest man. He is, in his own words, \u201ckind of pro-China<\/a>.\u201d The self-proclaimed \u201cfree-speech absolutist<\/a>\u201d has not applied that position to China\u2019s draconian censorship regime, and Musk has defended the Chinese government\u2019s positions on a range of other issues.    <\/p>\n

From a business perspective, this makes sense. China is vital to Musk\u2019s car company Tesla as both a producer of vehicles and as a consumer market. Musk is also hardly unusual among major global tech CEOs in defending China<\/a>.  <\/p>\n

\u201cMusk\u2019s comments on China aren\u2019t out of the norm for the CEO of a major Western business,\u201d said Isaac Stone Fish, CEO of Strategy Risks, a consultancy focused on the risks of doing business in China. \u201cThe distinction is that [Apple CEO] Tim Cook is not on Twitter talking about how awful USAID is or meddling in European politics.\u201d <\/p>\n

Musk\u2019s business interests in China and overall pro-Beijing attitudes also stand out among his new colleagues in the Trump administration. Trump\u2019s foreign policy team is generally united in its hawkish views<\/a> on China. Trump himself has accused Beijing in the past of a policy to \u201crape our country<\/a>\u201d and blamed it for the Covid pandemic, along with a host of other ills<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As the US and China appear to be hurtling headlong into a trade war<\/a>, and even as Trump seeks a meeting with China\u2019s Xi Jinping<\/a> in hopes of hammering out a new trade deal, Musk\u2019s ties to China \u2014 and the potential leverage they could offer Beijing in future negotiations \u2014 are getting more notice in both countries. <\/p>\n

This week, several media outlets reported<\/a>, citing US officials, that Musk was due to be briefed on the US military\u2019s classified plans for a war with China \u2014 unusual for any civilian outside the military chain of command, much less one with extensive commercial ties to the adversary in question. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth denied that the meeting would concern war plans and Musk described the report as \u201cmaliciously false information.<\/p>\n

During the recent quasi-infomercial<\/a> on the White House lawn, during which Trump purchased a Tesla and made a sales pitch for the slumping company, the president made clear that the profits of Musk\u2019s companies will be a priority for the administration. This raises questions about whether the interests of those companies will come into play as the administration shapes its policies toward its fellow superpower. <\/p>\n

China and Tesla need each other<\/h2>\n

The symbiotic relationship between Tesla and China almost can\u2019t be overstated. In 2019, the company opened its Shanghai \u201cgigafactory\u201d with hundreds of millions of dollars in loans from Chinese banks<\/a>. It was the company\u2019s first factory outside the US, as well as the first wholly foreign-owned car company in China<\/a>, where automakers typically enter into joint ventures with Chinese companies. <\/p>\n

It is now Tesla\u2019s largest factory, producing half<\/a> of the company\u2019s cars globally last year. Musk has praised workers<\/a> at his Chinese factory for \u201cburning the 3 am oil\u2026whereas in America people are trying to avoid going to work at all.\u201d The remark came at a time when the factory was literally having workers sleep<\/a> in the factory due to Covid restrictions.<\/p>\n

Tesla has also benefited from selling cars<\/a> in China\u2019s fast-growing electric vehicle market: Sales in China rose 8.8 percent in 2024, a year in which the company\u2019s global sales fell for the first time. (Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s their second most important market and the only market that’s continuing to grow,\u2019\u201d said Tu Le, an expert on the Chinese car market and director of the market research firm Sino Auto Insights. <\/p>\n

Along the way, Musk has developed relationships with senior Chinese leaders, notably Premier Li Qiang, China\u2019s No. 2 official<\/a>, who reportedly offered him a Chinese green card during a meeting in 2019. <\/p>\n

Thanks to his real-life Tony Stark image, Musk has become something of a pop culture figure in China, as, perhaps more surprisingly, has his mother<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Stacks<\/p>\n

The relationship between the Chinese government and Tesla has been mutually beneficial, Le told Vox. The company\u2019s investment in China came at a time when the Chinese government was trying to spur the creation of a local market for electric vehicles. That effort worked phenomenally well: More than half of cars sold in China now come with distinctive green license plates marking them as EVs, and China accounted for more than 60 percen<\/a>t of EV sales globally last year. <\/p>\n

This has also led to an explosion of new domestic Chinese EV producers, including Tesla\u2019s primary competitor BYD, a company that Musk once literally laughed at<\/a> but which now outsells Tesla globally. <\/p>\n

Tesla retains some cachet as a premium brand, Le says, but even in China, its sales are starting to slip<\/a>. Musk is currently pushing to win approval from Chinese regulators for Tesla\u2019s \u201cfull self-driving\u201d technology. The company is currently hampered by rules<\/a> that prevent data from Chinese drivers from being taken out of the country, which Musk says has forced them to use publicly available videos of Chinese streets to train their vehicles. <\/p>\n

Tesla last month rolled out a partial self-driving mode on its Chinese models, though it costs almost $9,000<\/a>, while BYD is offering similar technology for free on its vehicles. <\/p>\n

\u201cChina is the linchpin to Tesla’s overall long-term strategy,\u201d said Le.<\/p>\n

Musk\u2019s China ties are deeper than Tesla<\/h2>\n

Musk\u2019s activities in China had attracted controversy even before he took on his new political role. In 2022, Tesla was blasted by human rights groups and lawmakers for opening a showroom<\/a> in China\u2019s Xinjiang region, where the government\u2019s treatment of ethnic Uyghur Muslims had been described as a genocide by both the Trump and Biden administrations. <\/p>\n

The critics included then-senator, now Secretary of State Marco Rubio, sponsor of that year\u2019s Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, who described<\/a> the showroom on Twitter as an example of \u201cNationless corporations \u2026 helping the Chinese Communist Party cover up genocide and slave labor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Musk\u2019s China ties have also raised security concerns, given that another of his companies, SpaceX, is a major US military contractor and Musk himself has \u201ctop secret\u201d security clearance. In 2022, Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) pushed for closed-door intelligence<\/a> briefings on Capitol Hill to determine whether SpaceX had any links to the Chinese government, telling the Wall Street Journal, \u201cI am a fan of Elon Musk and SpaceX, but anyone would be concerned if there are financial entanglements with China.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several companies with links to Musk\u2019s businesses have also been targeted by the US government. In January, the Pentagon added Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL)<\/a>, the world\u2019s largest producer of lithium-iron-phosphate batteries, and a major Tesla supplier, to its list of \u201cChinese military companies\u201d that produce both civilian and military goods. US firms are not prohibited from doing business with companies on this list, but the list is intended to raise reputational and compliance costs. <\/p>\n

Another company on the list,<\/a> the Chinese internet giant Tencent, at one point owned a 5 percent stake in Tesla<\/a>, though according to media reports, it has since divested its holdings<\/a>. Tencent is the parent company of WeChat, which was once often referred to as \u201cChina\u2019s Twitter,\u201d but has since become an all-encompassing app used for a wide variety of payments and communication. Musk has cited WeChat as a model <\/a>for the \u201ceverything app\u201d he would like to build X into. <\/p>\n

The true extent of Musk\u2019s links to Chinese companies may not be fully known. The Financial Times reported<\/a> that Chinese investors have been funneling tens of millions of dollars into Musk\u2019s non-public companies, like SpaceX, Neuralink, and xAI, using opaque ownership structures that shield investors\u2019 identities. <\/p>\n

China\u2019s man on the inside?<\/h2>\n

Why does any of this matter? Musk\u2019s influence may already be helping to shape US policy toward China. At the end of last year, he publicly opposed<\/a> a bipartisan spending bill that included measures to regulate US investments in China. A stopgap bill was eventually passed without the provision, with Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) accusing House Republicans of caving because \u201cElon had a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Experts say Chinese leaders are hoping to leverage their connections to the DOGE boss<\/a> to influence the administration\u2019s policies. Chinese Vice President Han Zheng met with Musk<\/a> on the eve of Trump\u2019s inauguration. TikTok CEO Shou Chew has also been in communication<\/a> with Musk, viewing him as a conduit to the White House as the company tries to navigate concerns about its Chinese parent company ByteDance. <\/p>\n

In February, the Financial Times reported<\/a> that Chinese officials were considering using Tesla\u2019s quest for approval for self-driving as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations with the Trump administration. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey absolutely see him as an asset to them in any kind of negotiations, a way to bypass Rubio, a way to bypass [national security adviser Michael] Waltz, a way to bypass those whom they see to be less friendly to them on their issues, and they’re going to use him as a conduit,\u201d Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), ranking member of the House Select Committee on the CCP, told Vox at a recent event in Washington<\/a>. (The White House\u2019s National Security Council did not respond to a request for comment.)<\/p>\n

The committee\u2019s chair, Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI) didn\u2019t criticize Musk directly but agreed that \u201cthey\u2019re going to use every bit of leverage they can.\u201d<\/p>\n

On paper, a national security team that includes Rubio and Waltz reporting to Trump seems like a China hawk\u2019s dream. And in some respects, such as Rubio\u2019s push<\/a> to keep Chinese economic interests out of the Panama Canal, it has been. Chinese officials are reportedly concerned that the Trump administration will use tariffs<\/a> to pressure other developing countries to reduce their ties with Beijing.<\/p>\n

But in many respects, the administration has been less hawkish<\/a> than many expected. It\u2019s true that Trump has slapped 20 percent tariffs on Chinese goods<\/a>, ostensibly over China\u2019s role in the global fentanyl trade, though these are less than the 60 percent tariffs he proposed<\/a> on the campaign trail, or the 25 percent tariffs he has now slapped on Mexico and Canada. (Canada and European countries have earned Trump\u2019s ire more than China, at least so far.) <\/p>\n

Trump also backed off a move<\/a> to close a tax loophole used by Chinese fast fashion brands like Temu and Shein to ship to the United States, and despite having once called for the banning of TikTok, his administration appears to be in no hurry to enforce the ban on the app passed by Congress last year. <\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s foreign aid cuts have dealt a blow<\/a> to dozens of nonprofits monitoring corruption and human rights abuses in China, as well as Tibet\u2019s government in exile<\/a>. Statements by Trump<\/a> and some of his senior officials<\/a>, as well as the administration\u2019s treatment of Ukraine, have cast doubt on whether the administration would intervene to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Musk has said in the past that it would make sense for Taiwan to be a \u201cspecial administrative zone<\/a>\u201d within China. In an interview in Taipei last fall, Taiwan\u2019s deputy minister of digital affairs told Vox<\/a> his government was seeking alternative satellite services to SpaceX because Musk \u201ccould cut the service [over] his personal opinion, so we don\u2019t think this was a trustable partner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Musk has spoken out against tariffs<\/a> in the past, and Tesla has warned<\/a> it could be exposed to retaliatory tariffs from other governments, but because Tesla has built relatively self-sufficient supply chains within both the US and China, the measures announced by Trump so far may hurt Musk\u2019s competitors more than they hurt him<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Still, if US-China trade relations deteriorate further, not to mention the sort of \u201cdecoupling<\/a>\u201d Rubio advocated as a senator, it\u2019s hard to imagine Musk\u2019s bottom line won\u2019t be affected, or that he won\u2019t have something to say about it.  <\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot imagine the Trump administration actually being fully hawkish on China, until Musk greatly recedes from the scene,\u201d said Stone Fish. <\/p>\n

Musk\u2019s views on China and Taiwan, his economic links to Beijing, and the fact that SpaceX has reportedly denied Starlink satellite service<\/a> to Ukraine at various points in the war are likely to be reexamined again amid reports that Musk is being read in on Pentagon plans. The New York Times speculated<\/a> that Musk\u2019s briefing may be to ensure that whatever cuts Musk\u2019s Department of Government Efficiency plans to make at the Pentagon don\u2019t affect US readiness for a conflict in China, which has been one of the overriding priorities of US defense planning for years. According to the Wall Street Journal<\/a>\u2019s sources, Musk is receiving the briefing because he \u201casked for one.\u201d<\/p>\n

The administration\u2019s China policy, on both the economic and national security fronts, is still somewhat of a work in progress, and the hawks may still have their way, as they often did during Trump\u2019s first term. A test may come in June when, according to reports<\/a>, a Trump-Xi summit is in the works, perhaps paving the way for formal trade talks. <\/p>\n

If he\u2019s not in the room, Chinese leaders are likely hoping Musk will at least be nearby. <\/p>\n

Update, March 21, 11:30 am ET: <\/strong>This story was originally published on March 18 and has been updated with new reports that Musk would be receiving a briefing related to China. <\/em><\/p>\n

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A Cybertruck on display at a Tesla exhibition in Shanghai, China, in 2024. Elon Musk has opinions on how a lot of the world\u2019s countries should be run.  He has weighed in on elections in Germany on behalf of a far-right party, sparred with the government of his native South Africa, and called for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1316,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-innovation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/asian-idol.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/asian-idol.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/asian-idol.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/asian-idol.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/asian-idol.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1314"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/asian-idol.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1322,"href":"http:\/\/asian-idol.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314\/revisions\/1322"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/asian-idol.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/asian-idol.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/asian-idol.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/asian-idol.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}