Elon Musk complains about China’s ban on X, as Donald Trump prepares TikTok eviction

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Elon Musk has objected to a lack of reciprocity in the US-China technology relationship, a rare criticism from the billionaire on issues sensitive to Beijing, after US President Donald Trump was prepared to offer a reprieve to TikTok on a ban in the US.

Musk, who has long sought to maintain close ties with Communist Party officials in China, a core market and manufacturing center for his electric car company Tesla, has for years doggedly tiptoed around Beijing’s hot-button public issues.

But he said Sunday that “something has to change” after Trump said he would “most likely” extend a deadline for Chinese tech group ByteDance to divest from TikTok, which faced a ban under a U.S. law that briefly forced it offline.

Musk said that while he opposed banning the short video app on free speech grounds, “the current situation where TikTok is allowed to operate in America but X is not allowed to operate in China is unbalanced”.

“Something has to change,” he said in a post on X.

Asked about Musk’s comments, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said Monday that Beijing welcomed any company that complied with its laws, and Chinese groups abroad were required to follow local regulations.

Responding to Trump’s proposal to push TikTok, which began restoring service in the United States on Sunday, into a joint venture, Mao said Chinese groups should “decide independently” on operations and deals.

Musk’s criticism was mild compared to some of his fierce attacks on Western politicians and recent intrusions into the domestic politics of countries such as Germany, Britain and Italy.

But it highlighted the Tesla chief’s potential conflicts of interest between protecting his business interests in China and serving as a confidant to the incoming president and a government efficiency czar.

Tesla earned almost a quarter of its sales in the third quarter from China and exported even more vehicles from its Shanghai factory to third countries.

Some analysts believe Beijing is pinning its hopes on Musk as a potential go-between with Trump, who has promised to increase tariffs on imports from China. Chinese officials had previously discussed using Musk as a mediator to resolve TikTok’s fate in the United States.

On Sunday, Musk also met Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, who will represent President Xi Jinping at Trump’s inauguration. The presence of such a senior Chinese official as Han is unprecedented at the US presidential inauguration, where Beijing is usually represented by its ambassador in Washington.

“He met . . . Elon Musk and welcomed American companies, including Tesla, to seize opportunities and share the fruits of China’s development,” China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

He also met business leaders from the US-China Business Council and the US Chamber of Commerce on Sunday, as well as Trump’s incoming Vice President JD Vance.

He and Vance discussed the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl, which successive US administrations have pressured Beijing to crack down on, as well as regional stability and balancing trade, the Trump-Vance transition team said in a statement.

US business leaders have previously sought to play a moderating influence in the often volatile Sino-US relationship, a role Beijing appears keen to encourage ahead of the second Trump administration.

He described American business as a “backbone” in relations between the countries and called on companies to “play an active role as a bridge” in US-China relations, Xinhua said.