-
China’s ambassador to the US thanked Elon Musk for proposing a special administrative region for Taiwan, while Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to Washington accused the billionaire of “freedom and democracy can’t be bought.” “Taiwan sells many products, but our freedom and democracy are not for sale,” Xiao Bikim, Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to Washington, tweeted on Saturday. Any enduring proposals for the resolution must respect the democratic aspirations of the Taiwanese people, be free from coercion, and be peacefully decided.”
Days after the announcement of a deal that could end the war between Ukraine and Russia, which Ukraine has accused, Musk said tensions between China and Taiwan would be resolved by handing over control of Taiwan to Beijing.
“My recommendation is… Even if we find a halfway special administrative region for Taiwan, probably not everyone will be happy,” Musk told the Financial Times in an interview published Friday.
Beijing, which claims Taiwan as one of its provinces, has long been committed to controlling Taiwan and has not ruled out the use of force. Taiwan’s democratically governed government categorically rejects China’s claim to sovereignty, saying only the island’s 23 million residents can decide their future.
“Peaceful reunification and one country, two systems are indeed the basic principles for resolving the Taiwan issue and the best approach for realizing the reunification of the motherland,” he added. “As long as China’s sovereignty, security and development interests are guaranteed, post-unification Taiwan will enjoy a high degree of autonomy and vast development space as a special administrative region,” the ambassador wrote.
In a tweet published on Saturday, the Chinese ambassador wrote:
China has proposed a “one country, two systems” autonomy model similar to Hong Kong’s for Taiwan, but this has been opposed by all mainstream political parties in Taiwan, especially after Beijing introduced tough national security laws in Hong Kong. There is little public support. 2020.