Musk’s Business Ties to China Pose National Security Risks: Expert
Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s deepening relationship with China involves national security and business risks, according to Jon Pelson, author of “Wireless Wars, China’s Dangerous Domination of 5G and How We’re Fighting Back.” Pelson, former chief convergence officer for British Telecom, pointed to Musk’s unannounced trip to China on May 30—his first visit to the country in three years. Musk met with Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Beijing, where, according to a statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the tech billionaire shared his thoughts on U.S. and Chinese economic interests while also praising China’s “vitality and promise.” According to various Chinese media reports, Musk later announced that he would expand his business in China. A statement published on May 30 by China’s Foreign Ministry claims that he told Qin that the “interests of the United States and China are intertwined like conjoined twins.” The foreign minister told Musk during their meeting that both countries need to “keep the steering wheel in the right direction of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation” regarding their relationship. Both nations should “avoid dangerous driving,” said Qin, who’s China’s former ambassador to the United States. ‘Game of Hegemony’ “The problem is Musk thinks of everything in terms of innovation and business, and he’s good at both,” Pelson told “China in Focus” on NTD, the sister media outlet of The Epoch Times. “And he thinks, ‘You’re not going to be able to beat me at this.’ China is not playing that game. “This is a game of hegemony, world influence, and domination, and Musk can win his innovation game against China.” However, according to the expert, the communist regime’s end goals are “reliance, dependency on China, and influence on American companies of great importance.” Pelson further singled out Tesla’s announcement on April 9 that it had struck a deal to build a megapack factory in Shanghai, which will produce 10,000 megapack units per year, equivalent to 40 gigawatt-hours of energy storage. Tesla planned to expand the Gigafactory Shanghai—its most productive automaking plant—to add an annual capacity of 450,000 units, Reuters reported in May. Pelson believes that the Chinese regime can get access to Starlink satellites or rockets owned by SpaceX, since Musk is its CEO. “I don’t think they can get access to SpaceX or Starlink through the Tesla operations, but there’s no question they get access to the company that controls it and the people that control SpaceX and Starlink,” he said. “They can have influence and have leverage on [Musk] and his companies. “And that’s where the worry for me really comes from—if he’s really killing it in China, selling a lot of cars and buying a lot of batteries and inputs. You don’t want the guy who’s making the rockets that are sending us to the moon and Mars to have any undue influence from China.” Chinese Infiltration of Markets During his China trip, Musk reportedly met with Zeng Yuqun, chairman of top battery supplier Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. (CATL). According to a 2021 report by Inside EVs, the Chinese company is the third largest battery supplier to Tesla. In Pelson’s opinion, “America would do well to keep them [CATL] at arm’s length as far as possible.” He pointed to Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s move to block the state from being considered for a site of Ford Motor Co.’s battery manufacturing plant because of national security concerns. The automaker has an agreement with CATL to supply batteries to Ford’s electric vehicles. “Made in Virginia cannot be a front for the Chinese Communist Party,” Youngkin said in a video that included clips from his Jan. 11 address to the General Assembly at the beginning of a new legislative session. Pelson believes Youngkin made the right decision. “I think it was the right thing. This is not a source of knowledge exchange. This is just again an infiltration by China into markets that they’re trying to get a foothold in,” he said. Tesla officials didn’t respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment. Reuters and Katabella Roberts contributed to this report.
Udumbara
Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s deepening relationship with China involves national security and business risks, according to Jon Pelson, author of “Wireless Wars, China’s Dangerous Domination of 5G and How We’re Fighting Back.”
Pelson, former chief convergence officer for British Telecom, pointed to Musk’s unannounced trip to China on May 30—his first visit to the country in three years.
Musk met with Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Beijing, where, according to a statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the tech billionaire shared his thoughts on U.S. and Chinese economic interests while also praising China’s “vitality and promise.”
According to various Chinese media reports, Musk later announced that he would expand his business in China.
A statement published on May 30 by China’s Foreign Ministry claims that he told Qin that the “interests of the United States and China are intertwined like conjoined twins.”
The foreign minister told Musk during their meeting that both countries need to “keep the steering wheel in the right direction of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation” regarding their relationship.
Both nations should “avoid dangerous driving,” said Qin, who’s China’s former ambassador to the United States.
‘Game of Hegemony’
“The problem is Musk thinks of everything in terms of innovation and business, and he’s good at both,” Pelson told “China in Focus” on NTD, the sister media outlet of The Epoch Times. “And he thinks, ‘You’re not going to be able to beat me at this.’ China is not playing that game.
“This is a game of hegemony, world influence, and domination, and Musk can win his innovation game against China.”
However, according to the expert, the communist regime’s end goals are “reliance, dependency on China, and influence on American companies of great importance.”
Pelson further singled out Tesla’s announcement on April 9 that it had struck a deal to build a megapack factory in Shanghai, which will produce 10,000 megapack units per year, equivalent to 40 gigawatt-hours of energy storage.
Tesla planned to expand the Gigafactory Shanghai—its most productive automaking plant—to add an annual capacity of 450,000 units, Reuters reported in May.
Pelson believes that the Chinese regime can get access to Starlink satellites or rockets owned by SpaceX, since Musk is its CEO.
“I don’t think they can get access to SpaceX or Starlink through the Tesla operations, but there’s no question they get access to the company that controls it and the people that control SpaceX and Starlink,” he said.
“They can have influence and have leverage on [Musk] and his companies.
“And that’s where the worry for me really comes from—if he’s really killing it in China, selling a lot of cars and buying a lot of batteries and inputs. You don’t want the guy who’s making the rockets that are sending us to the moon and Mars to have any undue influence from China.”
Chinese Infiltration of Markets
During his China trip, Musk reportedly met with Zeng Yuqun, chairman of top battery supplier Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. (CATL).
According to a 2021 report by Inside EVs, the Chinese company is the third largest battery supplier to Tesla.
In Pelson’s opinion, “America would do well to keep them [CATL] at arm’s length as far as possible.”
He pointed to Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s move to block the state from being considered for a site of Ford Motor Co.’s battery manufacturing plant because of national security concerns. The automaker has an agreement with CATL to supply batteries to Ford’s electric vehicles.
“Made in Virginia cannot be a front for the Chinese Communist Party,” Youngkin said in a video that included clips from his Jan. 11 address to the General Assembly at the beginning of a new legislative session.
Pelson believes Youngkin made the right decision.
“I think it was the right thing. This is not a source of knowledge exchange. This is just again an infiltration by China into markets that they’re trying to get a foothold in,” he said.
Tesla officials didn’t respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.
Reuters and Katabella Roberts contributed to this report.
