Taiwan’s Military to not Buy Tesla Cars after Musk’s Remarks

Irked by Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s suggestion to turn Taiwan into a “Chinese special administrative zone” similar to Hong Kong, the island nation has decided to stop buying company-made cars for its military.

In an interview with the Financial Times, the business leader said a conflict in the Taiwan Strait could be avoided if Taiwan accepted a “more lenient version” of the formula China already applied in Hong Kong.

Taiwan’s army currently operates seven Tesla electric vehicles (EVs) for regular administrative affairs. As each of the cars is equipped with eight cameras relaying footage back to the U.S.-based company, prior to Musk's comments, the camera function had to be turned off both inside and outside military areas.

Tesla operates a large factory in China, and his comments have earned praise from Beijing. The company sold 83,000 cars in China in September, a new monthly high.

“Musk is a businessman… He has a big car factory in Shanghai and he wants to promote his electric vehicles … a businessman may say this today and say that tomorrow,” Su Tseng-chang, the premier of Taiwan, said. “Musk only speaks for himself but he really doesn’t know much about Taiwan and he also doesn’t understand cross-strait relations.”