(TibetanReview.net, Nov25’24) –US President-elect Donald Trump may have vowed to target China with prohibitive tariffs and appointed China hawks to man his cabinet. But many in Beijing are said to be hoping that Elon Musk, who donated huge sums to help the Trump and Republican elections, could play a constructive role in the second Trump administration.
If there is anyone with the connections to work things out between the world’s two feuding superpowers, it just might be Musk—or so many in Beijing are hoping – reported the wsj.com. He has showed off a Tesla to China’s premier Li Qiang inside Beijing’s walled leadership compound and dined with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, the report noted.
Chinese leaders enjoy some leverage over the Tesla chief executive, who has poured billions of dollars into investments in Shanghai. He has said Chinese leaders “really actually seem to care a lot about the well-being of the people,” contrary to the position of some of Trump’s cabinet picks who see him as an autocrat, the report noted.
“Given his investment in China and also given his relations with Chinese leaders, people do hope that he can play a constructive role in the second Trump administration,” Wu Xinbo, director of the Centre for American Studies at China’s Fudan University, has said.
However, the report notes, the uncertainties surrounding the idea are many, starting with whether Musk would be interested in serving as go-between and whether Trump and others in his cabinet want him involved in China policy. And if Trump is determined to impose high tariffs on Chinese goods, as he has suggested, there may be nothing to talk about.
Yet in Beijing, another view prevails, perhaps with a touch of wishful thinking, that Trump and Musk are pragmatic CEOs ready to negotiate.
Trump “has this business instinct and wants to make deals,” Wang Huiyao, president of the Beijing-based think tank the Center for China and Globalization, has said. For that reason, Trump would want to tap business executives such as Musk to deal with China, he has added.
The report continues that in eyeing Musk, Beijing is returning to an old playbook. American CEOs, especially from Wall Street, long acted in the go-between role because they had clout in Washington and hoped to expand in China. Today, with many US banks and other companies abandoning the idea of China as a growth market, Musk is one of the few options left.
Musk’s influence over Trump is, however, not total. True, Tump named him as co-head of a group to streamline government bureaucracy and he has been advising the president-elect on a range of issues. However, Trump went against Musk’s preference for Treasury secretary, the report noted.
Still, Feng Chucheng, founding partner of Beijing advisory firm Hutong Research, has said China would surely want to take advantage of Musk’s relationship with the Chinese Premier who has called the American CEO an “old friend”. He has cautioned that there is also a risk. The value of the ties, according to him, “will heavily depend on whether and how long Musk remains on positive terms with Trump, whose inner circle is fiercely competitive.”