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Musk Be The Money: Tesla and SpaceX CEO Too Close to China, Washington Insiders Say.

Schweizer Profiled Musk’s Relationship with the CCP in his Bestseller ‘Red-Handed.’


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You either love him or you hate him —and it usually depends on his latest inane tweet. But you can’t deny Elon Musk his billions. The man has earned his chips by revolutionizing both how we drive and how we fly (to space, no less). His contributions to mankind are well documented.

And so is his relationship with the CCP.

According to the Wall Street Journal, members of Congress are worried that Musk’s SpaceX operation may inadvertently be revealing classified information to Beijing suppliers. And with China’s history of intellectual property theft, Congress wants better eyes on the whole situation.

(Chinese IP theft costs the United States $225 billion to $600 billion a year.)

Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT), a senior member of the House Intelligence Committee, stated: “I am a fan of Elon Musk and SpaceX, but anyone would be concerned if there are financial entanglements with China. Congress doesn’t have good eyes on this.”

According to WSJ:

On Dec. 31, Mr. Musk opened a showroom in the Xinjiang capital of Urumqi, just a few weeks after President Biden signed a bill approved by Congress to require U.S. companies that import products from Xinjiang to prove that they weren’t manufactured with forced labor.

“Nationless corporations are helping the Chinese Communist Party cover up genocide and slave labor in the region,” read a tweet from the Senate office of Mr. Rubio, responding to Mr. Musk’s move.

Earlier this month, Mr. Musk hosted China’s ambassador to the U.S., Qin Gang, at Tesla’s factory in Fremont, Calif. “Had an inspiring talk with @elonmusk today,“ Mr. Qin tweeted afterward, “on cars on the road, stars in the sky, research of human brain, meaning of life on earth and our future into the space.”

And all this after Musk said he’d never open Tesla factories in China. Peter Schweizer documented the proverbial dump truck full of money they backed into Musk’s driveway in his bestseller Red-Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win.

Beijing rolled out the red carpet: Chinese government–backed banks coughed up $1.6 billion in subsidized loans. And the regulatory red tape to build in China was eliminated by government authorities. “What surprised me is how little time it took for the regulatory process to get approved by the Chinese government,” explained Ivan Su, an analyst at Morningstar Inc. The enormous plant was built in less than a year.

Musk arrived in the country for the groundbreaking ceremony and met with top-ranking officials. Two days later, he was meeting with Vice Premier Li Keqiang in the private compound reserved for high- ranking visitors. 

“I love China very much and I am willing to come here more,” Musk reportedly told Li. The vice premier offered to make him a permanent resident in the country.

Oh good. The tech billionaire who holds the keys to electric cars, privatized space travel, and can manipulate the stock market with a tweet really likes China now —and he’d love to go more.

He couldn’t resist, and we’re finding few can.