Trump and Elon CAVE to CHINA Before Taking OFFICE?!?
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Dec 25, 2024 The Intersection with Popok
China threatened to shut down OUR Government unless Trump and Musk removed provisions in government funding to avoid shut down bill that would have harmed Chinese AI, computing and chip manufacturing business. Popok explains how Trump chooses Musk's Chinese Tesla assets over the American People, every time.
“Maye Musk is a busy woman. As well as being the mother of the world’s richest man, she has been jetting between various glamorous events – many of them in China. In December alone, she attended a gala dinner in Hangzhou, walked the red carpet for a cosmetics company in Wuhan and signed copies of the Chinese edition of her book, A Woman Makes a Plan, which she described as “a bestseller” in China.
In fact, the only Musk-related book on the Chinese bestseller lists in October was a biography of her son Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson. Elon Musk is popular in China, and is thought to have the potential to wield pro-Beijing influence in the otherwise hawkish incoming administration of Donald Trump. But he has also faced scrutiny for his links to the US Department of Defense via his aerospace company, SpaceX.
Maye Musk, however, is adored in the country that she claims to visit “nearly every month”. She has been described as his secret weapon in China – a well-placed figure who can bring goodwill for her son’s increasingly global business and political ambitions.
And she has made her feelings about the country clear. “China is so advanced in roads, tunnels, buildings, infrastructure, and ports. Always impressed when I visit,” she tweeted in October. In November, she posted pictures of Teslas in Shanghai, along with adoring heart-eye emojis.
The 76-year-old has a successful career as a model and a dietician. But her son’s extensive business dealings in China – his car company, Tesla, has its biggest factory in Shanghai and he is a frequent visitor to the country – have opened the door to a new market of admirers who have welcomed her with open arms.
Her story is becoming increasingly well-known in China. Born in Canada and raised in South Africa, she has travelled around the world for her career and family.
Several commenters on Douban, a review website, praise her independence. “As a female role model who is independent, self-reliant and in control of her own life, she has gained rich experience under the influence of her family since she was a child. Because of her life experience in many countries, she is more tolerant of culture and life, and chooses to leave her comfort zone again and again,” wrote one fan of her book.
Her profile has been boosted by a slew of brand collaborations. Last year, she became a global ambassador for the Chinese consumer electronics company Oppo. This year, she added the mattress company AISE Baobao to the list of companies that she represents, attending the brand’s store opening in Shanghai in November.
She has also walked the runway in Hangzhou for the Chinese fashion label JNBY and attended an event for the sportswear brand Fila. In October, she attended a party for the Italian luxury fashion brand Moncler in Shanghai, sharing photographs of her posing with Rihanna and A$AP Rocky on her Chinese social media accounts.
The commercial endorsements have helped her to build a sizeable following on Chinese social media. She has 577,000 followers on Xiaohongshu, the Instagram-like platform that is particularly popular with young women, and 356,000 followers on Douyin, TikTok’s sister company in China. She also has 46,200 followers on Weibo, a micro-blogging site that is often compared to her son’s X.”
MORE AT:
The
Guardian
The rise and rise of Maye Musk: China’s love affair with Elon Musk’s mother
The 76-year-old is part of a trend of ‘silver influencers’ whose success in the face of adversity resonates strongly. Could she be Elon’s secret weapon in China?
Wed 25 Dec 2024 05.00 EST
"House Democrats Jim McGovern of Massachusetts and Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut say their Republican colleagues in Congress caved to the demands of Elon Musk, sinking a bipartisan government funding bill that would have regulated U.S. investments in China.
Congress passed a separate stopgap funding bill over the weekend, averting a government shutdown.
In a series of posts on X, McGovern said more could have been accomplished. The scrapped provision “would have made it easier to keep cutting-edge AI and quantum computing tech — as well as jobs — in America,” he wrote. “But Elon had a problem.”
Tesla, run by Musk, is the only foreign automaker to operate a factory in China without a local joint venture. Tesla also built a battery plant down the street from its Shanghai car factory this year, and aims to develop and sell self-driving vehicle technology in China.
“His bottom line depends on staying in China’s good graces,” McGovern wrote about Musk. “He wants to build an AI data center there too — which could endanger U.S. security. He’s been bending over backwards to ingratiate himself with Chinese leaders.”
SpaceX, Musk’s aerospace and defense contractor, has reportedly withheld its Starlink satellite internet service over Taiwan at the request of Chinese and Russian leaders. Taiwan is a self-ruling democracy that Beijing claims as its territory. Taiwan’s status is one of the biggest flashpoints in U.S.-China relations.
DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, wrote in a letter to Congress on Friday that Musk needs “Chinese government approvals for his company’s projects in the country.” It’s concerning, that Musk “has ingratiated himself with Chinese Communist Party leadership,” she wrote.
In the letter, DeLauro referred to the Tesla and SpaceX CEO as “President” Musk, alluding to the fact that the world’s richest person began railing against the prior funding bill on Wednesday, before President-elect Donald Trump came out with a statement of his own."
MORE AT:
CNBC
House Democrats say GOP caved to Musk in funding bill, protecting his China interests
PUBLISHED SAT, DEC 21 202410:32 PM EST
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