Elon Musk is facing backlash after the tech billionaire and his self-proclaimed laid-back speech met with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Dissent and free speech are notoriously controlled, if not crushed, in China, prompting many to Musk’s meeting with the leader in San Francisco as part of the APEC summit.
Musk posted a photo of the two men shaking on X (formerly Twitter), with the caption, “May prosperity be for everyone. “
However, many other people on the site condemned this move without delay: Musk promised to make X a bastion of laid-back speech.
One user tweeted: “As a self-proclaimed free speech absolutist, I’m sure I criticized the Chinese dictator for his appalling record on free speech and human rights abuses, among other things. “
Another added: “There is no prosperity, there is no freedom of speech. “
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May there be prosperity for all pic. twitter. com/AwLquaACdO
Before his meeting with the Chinese president, Musk told the official Xinhua news agency that he planned to meet Xi Jinping again.
He said, “I’m ahead for the meeting; We met once briefly. I can’t wait to see you again. “
In 2018, Tesla became the first foreign automaker to set up shop in China without a Chinese partner: 30% of car sales in China are electric vehicles, up from 7% in the United States.
Musk visits China, at most recently in June, but it’s unclear exactly when the tech billionaire has met with Xi in the past.
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Tesla China said in a statement Thursday that Musk “expressed support for Tesla’s progress in China” during his meeting with Xi.
He continued, “Musk expressed his gratitude and appreciated the immediate progress of China’s new motor vehicle industry.
“This year marks Tesla’s tenth year of entry into the Chinese market. Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory, which was completed and put into production in 2019, has Tesla’s global production base and vital export hub. “
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