Others have said he would be a good thing for China – a point that some analysis videos circulating on social media have argued.
“After all, he is likely to be very friendly toward China and he has made significant investments there,” a Beijing resident told CNA.
DEEP SEATED US-CHINA ISSUES
There are some early signs that Musk could shake up bipartisan consensus on US’ China policy – a key issue both parties tend to agree on.
Most recently in December, Democrats accused Republicans of protecting Musk’s Chinese investments by blocking a provision to regulate US investments in China.
But appetite to compete with China will be hard to unravel, according to Assistant Professor Dylan Loh from Nanyang Technological University’s School of Public Policy and Global Affairs.
“The problems or challenges of US-China are now quite deep-seated and they are structural,” he noted.
“No one single man can play a singularly decisive role. Having said that, there is certainly, I think, a space for him to play a part – perhaps I’ll say a bridge, a connector, or maybe even an intermediary, private intermediary.”
But even if this role materialises, Loh said it will be quite specific in the tech and science sectors in relation to China.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/elon-musk-china-fans-social-media-trump-government-4867481
