Beijing Says Musk Opposes Decoupling Of U.S. and China.

"HONG KONG -- China's foreign ministry said Elon Musk told officials in Beijing that he opposes decoupling the world's two biggest economies, in a meeting held shortly after the Tesla chief executive arrived in the country at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions with the U.S.

In a statement released Tuesday evening, Musk was quoted by Chinese officials as having told Foreign Minister Qin Gang that the interests of the two countries were intertwined and inseparable, like "conjoined twins." The ministry published a photo of Qin and Musk shaking hands.

Musk's trip to China -- one of Tesla's most important retail markets and home to its biggest manufacturing plant -- is his first in more than three years after China largely closed itself off in the pandemic.

At Tuesday's meeting, Qin likened China-U.S. relations to driving a Tesla vehicle, which requires holding the steering wheel correctly, stepping on the brakes at the right time, avoiding dangerous driving and using the gas pedal appropriately, according to a readout from the ministry. Tesla didn't respond to a request to comment. Grace Tao, a Tesla executive who heads up external affairs for its China operations, reposted the foreign ministry's statement on her social-media account on China's Weibo platform.

Musk joins a list of foreign CEOs, including Apple's Tim Cook and Pfizer's Albert Bourla, who in recent months have paid visits to China to meet senior officials and visit local facilities following pandemic restrictions that disrupted supply chains.

Relations between the U.S. and China have been frayed by competition over advanced technologies and further soured after the U.S. shot down a Chinese balloon in February. Businesses of both countries have been caught in the middle, with the latest incident coming this month when China blacklisted U.S. memory-chip maker Micron Technology.

The Micron ban fueled hawkish sentiment toward China in Congress, and was widely seen as a response to a tough new web of export controls placed by the Biden administration last year on the export of advanced semiconductors and semiconductor-making gear to China." [1]

1. Business News: Beijing Says Musk Opposes Decoupling Of U.S. and China. Cheng, Selina; Strumpf, Dan.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 31 May 2023: B.3.