During his visit to Tesla’s second-largest market, the wealthiest individual retreated into an uncharacteristic social media silence
Elon Musk’s followers were uncertain about what to anticipate from his China trip. Would he discuss Tesla, a company deeply entrenched in the market and manufacturing there? Or SpaceX, with its interdependent association with the US government? Perhaps even Twitter, the social network he acquired, emphasizing the importance of free speech in a functional democracy.
Unexpectedly, Elon Musk surprised everyone with his silence.
Musk’s final tweet was posted late on Monday evening, and his atypical absence continued until Thursday morning when he broke the silence upon returning to the US. He commemorated SpaceX’s accomplishments in human spaceflight with a congratulatory post.
While most CEOs could claim that their two-day stay in China was filled with back-to-back meetings, tours, and dinners, leaving little room for social media posts, Elon Musk, known for his daily tweets since last June, seldom finds himself at a loss for words.
Naturally, Twitter is prohibited in China, although some foreign visitors and tech-savvy locals often manage to bypass the restrictions using virtual private networks. Nonetheless, others were willing to voice their opinions on behalf of Elon Musk. On Weibo, the Chinese short-form social network that has thrived in the absence of Twitter, a state news outlet shared a post suggesting that Musk’s visit exposed the imprudence of American policies aiming to “decouple” from China. The Washington Post provided translations of the comments, stating that even if the White House supports the argument for decoupling, individuals like Musk would not concur.
During his time in China, the CEO of Tesla had a meeting with Jin Zhuanglong, the country’s industry minister. This led to a statement from the foreign ministry, revealing Musk’s intention to enhance the electric car company’s presence in China, its second-largest market. The ministry stated that Musk referred to the economies of both nations as “conjoined twins.
The impact of the visit extends beyond Elon Musk, resonating within the broader business community. Recent reports indicated that Bernard Arnault, the CEO of luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, is also making plans to visit China for the first time since the Covid pandemic. Arnault and Musk have been competing for the title of the world’s richest person, with Musk overtaking the Frenchman this week as Tesla’s stock rose while LVMH shares declined.
The significance of China to Tesla has always presented a challenge given Musk’s investment in Twitter. Prior to his acquisition of the social network, Twitter had been known for taking a firm stance against the Chinese state’s use of the platform for propagandistic purposes abroad. News feeds like Xinhua agency were labeled as “state-owned media,” while the personal accounts of Chinese diplomats and civil servants, who were permitted to use the platform under special circumstances, were marked as “government officials.” These labels were removed as part of Musk’s controversial revamp of the platform’s verification process.
The conflicts of interest were evident even before Musk acquired Twitter. In April of the previous year, Mike Forsythe, a reporter from The New York Times, highlighted that while China had no control over the platform since banning it in 2009, the country remained significant to Tesla as both a market and a supplier. Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, in response to Forsythe, questioned whether Musk’s takeover meant that “the Chinese government now had some influence over the town square.”
In the subsequent year, Musk did not directly address the criticism regarding these conflicting interests. However, pressure regarding Twitter’s overall relationship with foreign governments triggered a heated response. When journalist Matt Yglesias pointed out that Twitter complied with Turkish government requests to remove content following the national election, seemingly contradicting Musk’s claim of being a “free-speech absolutist,” Musk retorted by calling Yglesias an “insufferable numbskull.” This exchange marked his final interaction on Twitter before his visit to China.
