Technology is a double-edged sword, changing the way we live, but also changing the mode of operation of the army. Especially after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian military conflict, the American Starlink system (Starlink), which is used to benefit the people in the civilian field, was transformed into a "special communication equipment" for the Ukrainian government army, and other countries, including China and Russia, suddenly realized the "wolf ambition" hidden behind the so-called "civilian products" of the United States. When military and civilian equipment are not separated from each other under the advancement of science and technology, how many civilian products in the United States will become military weapons against other countries in the future, and american "businessmen" such as Elon Musk, the main promoter of the Starlink project and CEO of SpaceX, play a role in the great power game between the United States and Russia and China and the United States, which deserves our in-depth examination.
Is Musk a "businessman" or an "American politician" doing business in China? The answer to this question is clearly as vague as whether the American Starlink is military or civilian. But what is certain is that China needs to have its own "star chain", and it also needs scientific and technological forces from the international frontier to improve the quality of life of the domestic people while gaining chips in the game with the United States.
1. Musk was "disliked" by the West for acquiring Twitter, calling it a "potential traitor."
As the so-called hero of the times, the reason why Elon Musk was able to successfully implement the Us Starlink plan, let Tesla enter the Chinese market, and recently successfully acquired the Twitter platform and became the world's richest man, this is not a so-called coincidence, but it is very likely to be the result of a potential power game. Although for most Chinese consumers, their perception of Musk only stays at the hot sales of Tesla cars in the domestic market. But in the eyes of Chinese and Western politicians, Musk has become the focus of economic warfare, technology warfare and political games between China and the United States.
In this regard, the Western media led by Deutsche Welle (DW) and France And Broadcasting (RFI) have recently expressed their concerns about which side Musk "sided" with China and the United States. Among them, Deutsche Welle published an article on April 27 entitled "Musk Considers China's Interests?" Bezos' article questioning Twitter's fear of opening the door for Beijing clearly criticized Musk's behavior of still engaging in "strategic ambiguity" at a time when Sino-US relations are at odds. On the same day, AFP said with the slogan "Hua Ri: Will Twitter Be Affected by China After Being Acquired by Musk?" The topic analyzes a series of "deep changes" that Musk's "pro-China" may bring to Twitter. In a wave of criticism and questioning in the Western media, New York Times reporter Michael Fu Caide also pointed out in the tweet: "China is Tesla's second largest market in 2021, second only to the United States, China's battery manufacturers are the main suppliers of Tesla electric vehicles." After China banned Twitter in 2009, Beijing had little influence over the platform, but that could change after Musk took over Twitter. ”
Obviously, the lack of mutual trust between China and the United States has led to more and more Western media viewing Musk as a "potential traitor." Even Jeff Bezos, the world's second richest man and founder of Amazon, added on Tuesday (April 26): "Given Tesla's close commercial ties with China, it is an interesting question whether Twitter will become one of the platforms for Beijing to 'exert influence' in the future." Since Musk bought Twitter and called Twitter a 'digital city square' that offers freedom of speech, is the Chinese government gaining influence in the 'city square'? ”
Just as the so-called can't eat grapes says that grapes are sour, and whether it is the well-known media in the West or the world's second-ranked rich man Bezos, the words are obviously full of "sour grapes" flavor. In response to these conspiracy theories, The Chinese Foreign Ministry publicly responded for the first time at spokesman Wang Wenbin at a regular April 26 press conference. When a Reuters reporter asked: "After Musk reached an acquisition agreement with Twitter, some people believe that because Tesla has a production base in China, China can influence Twitter's release by containing Tesla, including Twitter previously banned Chinese state media such as Xinhua News Agency from carrying out promotional activities." What is China's comment on this? At the time, Wang Wenbin responded with only two short sentences: "I noticed that you are very good at guessing, but there is no factual basis." ”
As soon as this statement came out, it could be described as a sharp and opening point. In addition to the official response of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the English website of the Global Times also reported at the same time that Bezos's "Chinese conspiracy theory is just a manifestation of the 'sour grape' mentality", and quoted Shen Yi, a professor at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs of Fudan University in China, as saying: "Bezos may want to prevent Musk from acquiring Twitter, in part because Musk's Tesla has succeeded in China, but Amazon has failed to enter the Chinese market, using China's so-called influence to question Musk's just 'sour grapes' mentality." ”
Musk can be said to be one of the representatives of american businessmen to succeed in the Chinese market, and it will surely become the blueprint and model for Western businessmen to devote themselves to the Chinese market in the future, but Western politicians led by the United States are very afraid, worried that "the world's richest man created by the Chinese market" will lead more foreign businessmen to "take sides" in China. It is worth mentioning that after Musk announced last Monday (April 25) to acquire Twitter for $44 billion (41 billion euros), its entire acquisition road is still "a long way to go" because it still requires shareholder voting and regulatory approval. According to media reports, there seems to be no majority of investors opposed to the acquisition at present, which makes the acquisition process still relatively smooth.
2, Musk took the "big cake"? Some foreign media claimed that Twitter is expected to return to the Chinese market, or become China's "window of the world".
Arrogance and prejudice often stem from ignorance and ignorance. Since 2011, when Gao Zhibin, a "famous mouth" of Taiwan Province of China, publicly satirized such exaggerated remarks as "the mainland people cannot afford to consume tea and eggs at a low income, cannot afford to eat frozen dumplings, and eat instant noodles at the Shenzhen Railway Station and attract 50 or 60 people to watch", it was only Chinese mainland people first realized the ignorance of Taiwan compatriots and even the West about china's vigorous economic development and the beautiful situation of the people living and working in peace and contentment, and this ignorance further led to their "arrogance and prejudice" against China. In this context, some foreign media believe that Twitter is very likely to become a "window of the world" for China to show its style to the world in the future, to curb the sinister intentions of the United States to undermine China's international image through network control and misleading public opinion.
Regarding Twitter's expected return to the Chinese market, an expert on Sino-US relations commented: "Some Western countries have always had a deep-rooted prejudice against China, believing that China does not have freedom of speech, but the 'freedom of speech' they advocate is usually criticism and smear of China, and Bezos is one of them, and he has always held this prejudice and double standard against China." We believe Musk has a much better and deeper understanding of China than Bezos and will fully demonstrate his talent in running the Twitter business. There is no doubt that Musk has basically won the "big cake" of the Twitter market, which makes his position as the world's richest man more stable. For many years, Bezos and Musk often quarreled with each other, and even teased each other, this time Musk himself has not responded to Bezos's provocation, also because he has already won the game and is not willing to do too much verbal dispute with him.
After ignoring the cynicism of the Western media and Bezos, Musk immediately tweeted on "his own Twitter platform" to emphasize: "Free speech is the cornerstone of a normal democratic system, and Twitter is a digital city square where issues of vital importance to the future of mankind are discussed." At the same time, he also said that the acquisition of Twitter will promote a number of transformations, in addition to relaxing content restrictions, Twitter will also use "open source algorithms" to increase transparency and avoid the problem of behind-the-scenes manipulation within the platform to gain user trust. He will also crack down on zombie accounts and authenticate all real accounts. This emphasis on free speech has been highly affirmed by many, and we hope that this transformation will bring some new changes to social media platforms, changing a series of discriminatory measures that Twitter has previously taken against Chinese media and diplomats.
From the current point of view, the United States needs Musk's starchain, while China needs a larger window of voice to the outside world, and the two countries also need his Tesla to provide more competitive advantages for future competition in the field of electric vehicles. This seemingly ordinary American businessman now has a number of "personal titles" such as SpaceX founder, chairman, CEO, and chief engineer; Tesla investor, CEO, product designer, former chairman; founder of boring companies; Neuralink, co-founder of OpenAI, etc., and will eventually play the role of "middleman" in the great power game between China and the United States. In order to catch up with Musk, who became the world's richest man with a wealth of $270 billion since September 2021, Reuters also broke the news that Bezos is negotiating with the Chinese side and saying that he will continue to do business in China and develop the company. Obviously, Bezos himself is also very aware of the importance of the Chinese market for him to return to the "throne" of the world's richest man.
The Chinese market has created the world's richest man, Musk, but the West regards him as a "potential traitor". But in fact, clear-eyed people know that the West's "shelling" of Musk is only to "wake up" him, warning him to "correct his position" in the cooperation between China and the United States. From the perspective of the Starlink system, the US authorities have also shown great trust in it, just as the Chinese side is willing to allow it to sell Tesla electric vehicles in China, and both sides regard the field of data communication and electric vehicles as a "place where soldiers must compete" between future powers.
The current Starlink and Tesla are like the "Heavenly Sword" and "Dragon Slaying Knife" in Jin Yong's novel, and Musk also saw the economic value and strategic significance of these two "divine weapons" in his hands, and dared to mediate between the two major powers of China and the United States as a businessman, which is obviously what other foreign businessmen can't do and dare not do. In such a historical background, no matter how the Western media sneer at Musk, it will also change the objective fact that no matter who masters the world's most cutting-edge technology and the most blue ocean field in the future, who has the right to speak in the world. The Chinese side also very much hopes that more Western businessmen can abandon ideological differences and prejudices in international politics and look at the Chinese market under the Sino-US Asia-Pacific game with a more independent and rational vision.