Elon Musk may well face retaliation in China for his tweets about the origin of COVID-19.
Because in China, the various interventions of Elon Musk on the subject do not pass. He has indeed tweeted several times in recent days to support articles supporting the thesis of a leak from a laboratory in Wuhan. And the echoes that come from the Middle Kingdom indicate that it is Tesla who could well pay the price.
COVID, the return
Elon Musk often discusses political subjects on his social network Twitter, and this, at the risk of creating dissensus, and therefore of alienating potential customers from his companies for reasons that have nothing to do with economics. A concern that was echoed in particular by several Tesla shareholders at the start of the year.
What has been of interest to Elon Musk lately is COVID. It must be said that the thesis of a leak from a Chinese laboratory has gained in plausibility in 2023, in particular following an article by the wall street journal reporting the opinion of several American agencies, for which the virus would come from the institute of virology of Wuhan. Elon Musk hastened to confirm. Except that this time, it’s not the public who are unhappy, but China.
Will Tesla pay?
It is The Global Times, a state media outlet, which launched the charge across the Pacific. The newspaper thus accused Elon Musk of “ break the china pot », a local expression synonymous with « biting the hand that feeds it », supporting the thesis of a laboratory leak. A fairly transparent allusion to Tesla’s activity in this country, since China is quite simply the second largest market for the electric vehicle manufacturer.
The country led by Xi Jinping is also in a position of virtual monopoly on rare earths, essential for electric vehicle batteries, and of which he controls 90% of the world’s refining activity. Suffice to say that Beijing has pressure levers on the businessman and could well use them as a weapon of retaliation if Elon Musk continues his momentum. Not the best news as the manufacturer is holding its Investor Day today!
Source : The Verge
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