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Elon Musk has criticized the lack of reciprocity in US-China technical relations, a rare criticism from a billionaire on sensitive issues in Beijing after US president-elect Donald Trump prepared to give TikTok a US ban.
Muskwho has long sought to maintain close ties with Communist Party officials in China, a key market and production center for his electric car company Tesla, has for years focused on Beijing's hot-button issues in public.
But he said on Sunday “something has to change” after Trump said he was “very likely” to extend the deadline for Chinese tech group ByteDance to divest. TikTokfacing a ban under US law that briefly forced it out of business.
Musk said that while he was opposed to banning short video applications in free speech lands, “the current situation where TikTok is allowed to operate in America, but X is not allowed to operate in China is not balanced”.
“Something has to change,” he said in the X post.
Asked about Musk's comments, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Monday that Beijing accepts any company that complies with its laws and that Chinese companies abroad are bound to follow domestic laws.
In response to Trump's proposal to push TikTok, that is he started to restore the service in the US on Sunday, in cooperation, Mao said that Chinese parties should “decide independently” about operations and agreements.
Musk's criticism was mild compared to his other harsh attacks on western politics and recent intrusions the domestic politics of countries like Germanythe UK and Italy.
But it highlighted the possible conflict for Tesla's boss between protecting his business in China and serving as a confidant to the incoming president and a working government tsar.
Tesla got nearly a quarter of its sales in the third quarter from China and exported more vehicles from its Shanghai factory to third countries.
Some analysts believe Beijing is pinning its hopes on Musk as a potential mediator with Trump, who has vowed to raise tariffs on imports from China. Chinese officials have discussed it before using Musk as a broker to resolve the future of TikTok in the US.
Musk on Sunday met with Chinese vice president Han Zheng, who said will represent President Xi Jinping at Trump's inauguration. The presence of a high-ranking Chinese official like Han is unprecedented in a US presidential election, where Beijing is often represented by its ambassador in Washington.
“Han met . . . Elon Musk, and welcomed US companies including Tesla to seize opportunities and share the fruits of China's development,” China's Xinhua news agency reported.
Han also met with business leaders from the US-China Business Council and the US Chamber of Commerce on Sunday, as well as Trump's incoming vice president JD Vance.
Han and Vance discussed the deadly opioid fentanyl, which successive US administrations have pushed Beijing to phase out, as well as regional stability and coordinated trade, the Trump-Vance transition team said in a statement.
US business leaders in the past have sought to play a moderating influence in the ever-changing Sino-US relationship, a role Beijing seems keen to promote ahead of a second Trump administration.
Han described US business as the “backbone” of bilateral relations, and urged businesses to “play an active role as a bridge” in US-China relations, Xinhua said.