A US senator is warning that Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s increasing involvement with US President-elect Donald Trump could jeopardise US national security due to Musk’s business ties with China, the South China Morning Post reports.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democratic chairman of the Senate judiciary subcommittee on privacy, technology and the law, has described the situation as “beyond dangerous” and a “profound threat” for US national security.
Trump has said that Musk will co-lead a government efficiency commission aimed at overseeing changes to regulations in his new cabinet. However, Tesla manufactures – and sells – a large proportion of its electric vehicles in China, while Musk is known to have close business ties with several senior Chinese government officials. At the same time, SpaceX has contracts with a number of US government agencies, including the Department of Defense.
“I don’t know how Mr Musk can balance the interests he has with the US government, with Tesla and with SpaceX at the same time. It’s very, very challenging,” one risk analyst told a hearing on Tuesday into ties between US tech companies and China.
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Speaking at the same hearing, Blumenthal accused Beijing of being willing to “use whatever levers they have to advance their interests.”
However, others see Musk’s involvement with the Trump administration as a positive. Tensions are currently high between China and the US. The two superpowers are engaged in a tech war, and the expectation of massive tariff hikes by the incoming Trump administration have seemingly spurred Chinese exporters to front-load shipments ahead of a possible trade war.
CNBC however has reported speculations that Musk could improve relations between China and the US, citing a senior adviser and Trustee Chair in Chinese Business & Economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Scott Kennedy.
Kennedy has said that Musk “could be the new Kissinger” and help broker a deal between Beijing and Washington. The US diplomat Henry Kissinger was known for helping normalise the country’s relations with China in the 1970s.
