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Elon Musk has hit out at the lack of reciprocity in the US-China tech relationship, a rare criticism from the billionaire on issues sensitive to Beijing, as US President-elect Donald Trump prepared to offer a reprieve to TikTok for a US ban.
Musk, who has long sought to maintain close ties with Communist party officials in China, a key market and manufacturing center for his electric car company Tesla, has for years been cautious in his statements about Beijing.
But he said on Sunday that “something has to change” after Trump said he would “most likely” extend a deadline for Chinese tech group ByteDance to exit TikTok, which faced a ban under a law American that briefly forced him offline.
Musk said that while he opposed banning the short-form video app on free speech grounds, “the current situation where TikTok is allowed to operate in America but X is not allowed to operate in China is unbalanced.”
“Something has to change,” he said in a post on X.
Asked about Musk’s comments, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Mao Ning said Monday that Beijing welcomes any company that respects its laws and Chinese groups abroad are bound to follow local rules.
Responding to Trump’s proposal to push TikTok, which began restoring service in the US on Sunday, into a joint venture, Mao said the Chinese groups should “independently decide” on operations and deals.
Musk’s criticism was mild compared to some of his harsh attacks on Western politicians and recent meddling in the domestic politics of countries such as Germany, the UK and Italy.
But he highlighted the Tesla chief’s potential conflicts of interest between protecting his business interests in China and serving as a confidant of the incoming president and a government efficiency czar.
Tesla earned almost a quarter of its sales in the third quarter from China and exported even 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 had previously discussed using Musk as a mediator to resolve TikTok’s fate in the US.
Musk on Sunday also met with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, who will represent President Xi Jinping at Trump’s inauguration. The presence of a Chinese official as senior as Han is unprecedented at US presidential inaugurations, where Beijing is usually represented by its ambassador in Washington.
“Hani met. . . Elon Musk and welcomed American companies, including Tesla, to seize the opportunities and share the fruits of China’s development,” reported China’s state news agency Xinhua.
Han also met Sunday with business leaders from the US-China Business Council and the US Chamber of Commerce, as well as incoming Trump Vice President JD Vance.
Han and Vance discussed the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl, which successive US administrations have pushed Beijing to crack down on, as well as regional stability and balancing trade, the Trump-Vance transition team said in a statement.
American business leaders have in the past sought to play a moderating influence in the often volatile Sino-American relationship, a role Beijing appears eager to encourage ahead of Trump’s second administration.
Han described American business as a “pillar” of relations between the countries and urged businesses to “play an active role as a bridge” in US-China relations, Xinhua said.
