Elon Musk could act as middleman between China and Trump in possible global trade war
Drive an hour outside China’s commercial capital Shanghai, and you’ll reach Elon Musk’s Tesla gigafactory.
It manufactures almost one million Tesla cars a year and produces more than half of all its cars worldwide.
But with US president-elect Donald Trump preparing to move into the White House, the relationship between his new buddy Elon Musk and the leadership of China‘s Communist Party is in sharp focus.
Tesla’s Shanghai gigafactory. Pic: Lex Ramsay
Shanghai has been the key to Tesla’s success, largely thanks to the city’s former Communist Party secretary, now China’s premier, Li Qiang.
Chief executive of Shanghai-based Auto Mobility Limited, Bill Russo, says: “Qiang is China’s number two person. His position in Shanghai made everything possible for Tesla.”
He added: “In 2017, China adjusted its policy guidelines for the automotive industry to allow foreign companies to own their factories in China.
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Musk, Trump and China explained
“Tesla signed its deal in 2018, broke ground in 2019, and started producing the Model 3 in 2020.”
The factory opened at breakneck speak and in record time.
In April, Musk met Qiang in Beijing, later posting on X: “Honoured to meet with Premier Li Qiang. We have known each other now for many years, since early Shanghai days.”
Elon Musk met Chinese premier Li Qiang in Beijing in April 2024. Pic: AP
The Musk-China ties go all the way to the top.
When China’s President Xi Jinping visited the US in November 2023 he met Musk, who posted: “May there be prosperity for all” – echoing the language often used by China’s government.
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Inside a Tesla showroom in Shanghai. Pic: Lex Ramsay
Musk has previously weighed into the debate over the status of Taiwan. Two years ago, he suggested tensions could be eased by giving China some control over Taiwan.
This comment incensed Taiwan’s leaders.
Chinese commentator Einar Tangen, from the Taihe Institute in Beijing, says: “If Musk had said anything else, he could face action against the Shanghai plants. He’s not going to endanger that. He’s playing both sides for his own advantage.”
What’s in it for China?
Musk needs China, and in the months to come, China may need Musk.
He could act as a well-connected middleman between the Chinese Communist Party and Trump, in the face of a potential global trade war.
“Like it or not, we are living in a world where China is the dominant player in the race to an electric future,” says Russo.
Musk pioneered the EV industry in China, but is now struggling to compete with local car brands like BYD and Nio.
Elon Musk’s support helped propel Donald Trump to a second term in the White House. Pic: AP
The relationship between Musk and Trump could become volatile, but for now, Musk stands to benefit.
“Donald Trump has never had a problem giving exceptions to friends,” Tangen says.
“It fits his personality, that he can grant pardons and give favours to the people and companies he chooses.”
Musk ‘the pioneer’
Musk is well regarded as a pioneer in China and most people speak of him highly.
Strolling along the Bund waterfront area in Shanghai, Benton Tang says: “Tesla really impacted the entire industry here.
“It pushed people to develop and improve the quality, the design and especially the price.”
Chinese vehicle manufacturers like BYD provide stiff competition for Tesla. Pic: Lex Ramsay
Interest in the Musk family has also gripped China’s online community.
His mother, Maye Musk, frequently visits the country, where she has a huge social media following as a senior-age celebrity fashion icon and endorses several Chinese products including a mattress brand.
Her book, A Woman Makes A Plan, has been translated into Chinese and is a bestseller here.
Maye Musk. Pic: Reuters
Meanwhile, as the countdown to Trump’s inauguration gains pace, the spotlight on the president-elect’s coterie of advisers intensifies.
In the middle of the glare is Elon Musk.
China waits to see what that will mean for them.
A new aid system has opened its first distribution centres in Gaza, according to a US-backed organisation dealing with supplies.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began its operations in the territory on Monday, following the resignation of its director, Jake Wood, over its independence.
Gaza’s 2.3m population has been pushed towards famine by Israel’s almost three-month blockade.
Boxes of aid to be distributed across Rafah. Pic: Reuters.
The GHF said lorryloads of food – it did not say how many – had been delivered to its hubs, and distribution to Palestinians had begun.
“More trucks with aid will be delivered tomorrow, with the flow of aid increasing each day,” it said in a statement.
The controversial group, backed by Israel and the United States, has been rejected by the United Nations and other aid groups.
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People line up for food in Gaza
UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF.
They claim Israel is weaponising food, and the new distribution system will be ineffective and lead to further displacement of Palestinians.
They also argue the GHF will fail to meet local needs, and violates humanitarian principles that prohibit a warring party from controlling humanitarian assistance.
In the meantime, scores of Palestinians in Gaza, like Islam Abu Taima, have resorted to searching through rubbish to find food.
Palestinians are having to search through rubbish to find food
She found a small pile of cooked rice, scraps of bread, and a box with a few pieces of cheese inside it – which she said she will serve to her five children.
“We’re dying of hunger,” she told the Associated Press news agency.
“If we don’t eat, we’ll die.”
Islam Abu Taeima finds a piece of bread in a pile of rubbish in Gaza City. Pic: AP.
It is unclear how many of the GHF’s aid trucks will enter Gaza.
It claims it will reach one million Palestinians by the end of the week.
There are questions, however, over who is funding it and how it will work.
Trucks transporting aid for Palestinians in Rafah. Pic: Reuters.
It has been set up as part of an Israeli plan – rather than a UN distribution effort.
Israel, which suggested a similar plan earlier this year, has said it will not be involved in distributing the aid but supported the plan and would provide security.
It says aid deliveries into Gaza are taken by Hamas instead of going to civilians.
Aid groups, however, say there is no evidence of this happening on a systemic basis.
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Israel began to allow a limited amount of food into Gaza last week – after a blockade that prevented food, medicine, fuel and other goods from entering the Palestinian enclave.
A letter has been signed by hundreds of judges and lawyers calling on the UK government to impose trade sanctions on Israel.
It also calls for Israeli ministers to be sanctioned and the suspension of Israel from the UN over “serious breaches of international law”.
“Genocide is being perpetrated in Gaza or that, at a minimum, there is a serious risk of genocide,” the letter says.
The Israeli government has repeatedly dismissed allegations of genocide in Gaza.
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At least 31 dead after school attack
More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its ground invasion of Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, following the deadly attacks by the militant group on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
The health ministry’s figures do not differentiate between civilians and fighters in Gaza.
King Charles and Queen Camilla are being urged to use their visit to Canada to seek an apology for the abuse of British children.
Campaigners have called on them to pursue an apology for the “dire circumstances” suffered by so-called “Home Children” over decades.
More than 100,000 were shipped from orphan homes in the UK to Canada between 1869 and 1948 with many used as cheap labour, typically as farm workers and domestic servants. Many were subject to mistreatment and abuse.
Canada has resisted calls to follow the UK and Australia in apologising for its involvement in child migrant schemes.
King Charles and Mark Carney on Monday. Pic: PA
Campaigners for the Home Children say the royal visit presents a “great opportunity” for a change of heart.
“I would ask that King Charles uses his trip to request an apology,” John Jefkins told Sky News.
John’s father Bert was one of 115,000 British Home Children transported to Canada, arriving in 1914 with his brother Reggie.
“It’s really important for the Home Children themselves and for their descendants,” John said.
“It’s something we deserve and it’s really important for the healing process, as well as building awareness of the experience of the Home Children.
“They were treated very, very badly by the Canadian government at the time. A lot of them were abused, they were treated horribly. They were second-class citizens, lepers in a way.”
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John Jefkins
John added: “I think the King’s visit provides a great opportunity to reinforce our campaign and to pursue an apology because we’re part of the Commonwealth and King Charles is a new Head of the Commonwealth meeting a new Canadian prime minister. It’s a chance, for both, to look at the situation with a fresh eye.
“There’s much about this visit that looks on our sovereignty and who we are as Canadians, rightly so.
“I think it’s also right that in contemplating the country we built, we focus on the people who built it, many in the most trying of circumstances.”
The issue was addressed by the then Prince of Wales during a tour of Canada in May 2022. He said at the time: “We must find new ways to come to terms with the darker and more difficult aspects of the past.”
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King Charles and Queen Camilla are on a two-day visit to Canada.
On Tuesday, the King will deliver the Speech from the Throne to open the 45th session of Canada’s parliament.
Camilla was made Patron of Barnardo’s in 2016. The organisation sent tens of thousands of Home Children to Canada. She took on the role, having served as president since 2007.
Buckingham Palace has been contacted for comment.
A spokesperson for the Canadian government said: “The government of Canada is committed to keeping the memory of the British Home Children alive.
“Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada deeply regrets this unjust and discriminatory policy, which was in place from 1869 to 1948. Such an approach would have no place in modern Canada, and we must learn from past mistakes.”
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