У Конгресі США стурбовані, що Пекін може скористатися Маском, щоб вплинути на Трампа, повідомляє Reuters.

This is reported by Reuters, as conveyed by Ukrinform.

The chairman of the committee, Republican John Moolenaar, and his deputy, Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi, stated at an event organized by the Brookings Institution in Washington that the Chinese authorities aim to utilize U.S. business leaders, including Musk, who have commercial interests in China, to achieve their objectives in negotiations with Washington.

“Regarding Elon Musk, I believe the Chinese Communist Party will try to leverage any opportunity,” Moolenaar said.

According to him, Congress will take measures to prevent Beijing from negotiating with the White House through Musk or other American businessmen.

On the other hand, Krishnamoorthi mentioned that Beijing views Musk as a means to circumvent the Chinese “hawks” in Trump’s national security team, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.

“They see him (Musk – ed.) as an asset in any negotiations, a way to bypass Rubio, a way to bypass Waltz, a way to bypass those they consider less friendly toward China,” Krishnamoorthi said.

At the same time, lawmakers did not provide evidence or any facts to support their suspicions.

Musk and the White House did not respond to Reuters' requests for comments, while the Chinese embassy in Washington stated that China welcomes mutually beneficial cooperation with people from all walks of life in the United States.

“We are pleased to see foreign companies invest and establish businesses in China, deepen their presence in the Chinese market, and share development opportunities,” said embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu.

Musk, the richest person in the world and one of Trump’s largest donors for the 2024 election, may interest Beijing as a potential communication channel and influence on the U.S. president, given that he has become one of his closest advisors in the White House.

The billionaire has maintained contacts with top Chinese leaders for years, including President Xi Jinping.

Musk's largest business interest in China is the electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla, which delivered 36.7% of its cars to customers in China last year, making it the second-largest market for the company globally by sales volume.

However, in recent years, Tesla has been losing ground in China due to fierce competition from local electric vehicle manufacturers, which are rapidly increasing their sales, and discriminatory market regulations that prevent Tesla from implementing autonomous driving features in its cars, which could boost sales, while Chinese automakers have received such permission.

Therefore, Congress suspects that the Chinese government might offer Musk what he wants in exchange for facilitating contacts with Trump, as noted in the publication.

As reported by Ukrinform, Tesla's design director David Imai officially left his position to join the electric boat manufacturer Arc Boats.

Photo: Bloomberg