Staff Reports
Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur behind Tesla, seems to have a new BFF: China. The New York Times, who surprisingly got something right for once, reports that Musk is cozying up to the communist regime in Beijing. This has American policymakers raising their eyebrows at the man behind the electric car revolution. When Musk opened Tesla’s first Chinese-made factory in Shanghai in 2020, it solidified his love affair with China. This communist country has become the cornerstone of Musk’s electric vehicle empire, raking in over half of Tesla’s global deliveries and a lion’s share of its profits.
Elon Musk's 'Symbiotic' Relationship with China Is Now a Concern for Tesla https://t.co/eGlLy4UU0U . #Trump2024 pic.twitter.com/RX5vXVKA0S
— NahBabyNah (@NahBabyNah) March 28, 2024
Musk seems to have struck a sweet deal with the Chinese government, something any American businessman can only dream of. He managed to build the Shanghai factory without needing a local partner and obtained access to top Chinese officials. He even got his hands on hundreds of millions of dollars in profits thanks to a convenient change in national emissions regulations, all thanks to some smooth talking and lobbying by his company.
Anyone with a brain knows that Musk is a sellout. He denied any plans to open a Tesla factory in China initially, but as soon as Beijing rolled out the red carpet, he was all in. The Chinese government-backed banks coughed up $1.6 billion in subsidized loans and magically made the regulatory red tape disappear. Musk even got to rub shoulders with top Chinese officials, including Vice Premier Li Keqiang, who was so smitten with Musk that he offered him permanent residency in China. What a total betrayal of American values!
Musk’s relationship with China is more than just business – it’s a full-blown love affair. He’s been profiting from the Chinese government’s generosity while simultaneously raking in subsidies here in the United States. It’s like he’s playing both sides, and in the end, it’s the American people who are being played.
And the hypocrisy doesn’t end there. Musk downplayed Tesla’s reliance on government help, but former regulators spilled the tea, saying that government policies were the company’s lifeline when it was struggling. Not to mention, Musk joined forces with environmentalists to push for emissions mandates in China, all just to benefit his own bottom line. Talk about using the system to get ahead!
But it’s not all rainbows and sunshine for Musk in China. While he may be riding high on his success, he’s losing ground to Chinese competitors in a market that he helped create. And to make matters worse, his close ties with Beijing have put him in the hot seat with U.S. policymakers. His support for China in international disputes, including siding with Beijing on the Taiwan issue and downplaying the repression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, has a lot of people in Washington raising their eyebrows.
Despite all of this, Musk remains as strong as ever in China. He’s still making big moves, like building a battery factory in Shanghai. And let’s not forget his little photo op with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and the cozy reception he attended. It’s like Musk has forgotten who the good guys are in all of this.
In the end, it seems like Musk has chosen his side, and it’s not America’s. It’s clear that he’s turned his back on the country that helped him become the billionaire he is today. With friends like China, who needs enemies?
