Elon Musk this week weighed in on Taiwan—where his comments were not good.
“China’s official policy is that Taiwan should be integrated,” Musk said in an interview with CNBC’s David Faber. “One does not have to read between the lines. One can only read the lines. There is an inevitable situation.”
In China, it is controlled by the state China Daily ran with the title“Elon Musk: Taiwan must be integrated.”
On Friday in Taiwan, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu tweeted a response to the Tesla CEO, who wrote that the “bullying and threats of the Chinese Communist Party are a concern, especially for those who want to remain free and democratic.”
Wu added that China’s “expansionist policy violates the rules based on international order and the status quo. Mr. @ElonMusk, besides money, there is something we call VALUES.”
China considers Taiwan its territory—despite the fact that Taiwan is democratic and self-governing—and has threatened to use force if necessary to control it. Taiwan, on the other hand, is home to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the largest maker of computer chips by volume.
Legendary investor Warren Buffett this week others are thrown away of Berkshire Hathaway’s $4 billion stake in TSMC. He told Japan Nikkei last month that the threat of war a “consideration” to throw away the bulk of the stake.
Last November, Citadel CEO Ken Griffin said that America “totally and completely dependent on the Taiwanese for modern semiconductors.” The billionaire hedge fund chief added, “If we lose access to Taiwanese semiconductors, the hit to US GDP would likely be in the order of magnitude of 5% to 10%. It would be an immediate Great Depression.”
Musk this week compared China and the rest of the world economy to “conjoined twins” and warned of dire consequences from any attempt to separate them. While Tesla has a gigafactory in Shanghai, he said “the situation is actually worse for a lot of other companies…I’m not sure where you can get an iPhone.”
Last October, he SPOKE THE Financial Times that a conflict with Taiwan is inevitable. His recommendation, he said, “is to find a special administrative zone for Taiwan that is reasonably palatable…
China’s foreign ministry answered a question about those statements by pledging that China “will completely crush the ‘Taiwan independence’ secessionist attempts, resolutely stop interfering with external forces, and resolutely protect national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”