Taiwanese diplomat trashes Elon Musk's proposed 'compromise' with China: Freedom is 'not for sale'

Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently floated a new "compromise" intended to keep peace between Taiwan and China -- and it is being given the same kind of hostile reception that politicians in Ukraine recently gave to his proposed "peace plan" with Russia.

As CNBC reports, Musk told the Financial Times over the weekend that the United States should endorse some kind of plan that gives Beijing some administrative control over Taiwan.

Specifically, Musk said America should "be to figure out a special administrative zone for Taiwan that is reasonably palatable, probably won’t make everyone happy.”

“And it’s possible, and I think probably, in fact, that they could have an arrangement that’s more lenient than Hong Kong," Musk added.

However, Taiwanese diplomat Hsiao Bi-khim immediately shot down Musk's proposal, which had received a friendly reception from Qin Gang, China's ambassador to the United States.

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"Taiwan sells many products, but our freedom and democracy are not for sale," she said. "Any lasting proposal for our future must be determined peacefully, free from coercion, and respectful of the democratic wishes of the people of Taiwan.

Bates Gill of the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis similarly told CNBC that there is little desire among people in Taiwan to have any such arrangement, especially after watching how China slowly destroyed freedoms that had existed previously in the city of Hong Kong.

"The world’s wealthiest man obviously feels he has a lot to say on these geopolitical questions," explained Gill. "I would only suggest that he take a lot harder look at the realities, the historical precedents and geopolitical contestation that surround all of these questions before giving us all a lesson in diplomacy."