
Taiwan’s premier Su Tseng-chang dismissed Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s recent comments about the island by saying that he "doesn't know much" about the region or its politics. Musk courted controversy once again this week when he suggested that Taiwan should become a part of China.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Musk pointed towards the governing system used by China when it comes to Macau and Hong Kong as the "reasonably palatable" agreement with Taiwan. He insisted that it is better for both countriesfor Taiwan to becomea "special administrative zone".
The situation between China and Taiwan has worsened over time and after the visit of United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, the “proxy wars” have begun as well. In the past few months, China has held several military drills across the Taiwan Strait as a “show of power”.
Amidst the tension, the comments made by Musk have not been taken kindly by Taiwan.
"Musk is a businessman," Su said in the parliament. "He has a big car factory in Shanghai, and he wants to promote his electric vehicles... a businessman may say this today and say that tomorrow".
"Musk only speaks for himself but he really doesn't know much about Taiwan, and he also doesn't understand cross-strait relations," Su added according to Reuters.
Earlier, the same comments were praised highly by Beijing's ambassador to Washington Qin Gang. The billionaire also found support from other Chinese officials who used the comments to once again emphasise the legitimacy of China’s claim in Taiwan.