Elon Musk has clarified that people connected with the Chinese government have asked him not to sell Starlink within China’s territory. Musk clarified this in an interview given to the Financial Times.
China did not recognize Starlink’s service in Ukraine. China has ensured that Starlink will not be sold in China. Musk said.
But he did not specify whether Musk accepts China’s demand. However, according to Starlink’s service map, the company has no plans to deploy Starlink in China. The company said it could not say when the service would begin in China’s neighboring countries of Taiwan, Mongolia and Vietnam.
Starlink is seen as a good way to displace traditional internet service providers. Mainly through Starlink it is possible to bypass network-based censorship. Starlink service was launched recently in Iran, where the internet is restricted due to popular unrest. The Starlink service was delivered against the background of the disruption of the traditional internet network in Ukraine due to the war.
China is a country with strong internet restrictions. Any anti-national and anti-state movement will not be allowed on China’s Internet. It is for this reason that Starlink Internet faces strong opposition from the Chinese government.
The incident is evidence that Musk, who often touts free speech principles throughout his public speaking engagements, is bowing to pressure from countries like China. Musk is not ready to get into serious trouble with China. Tess La has a large manufacturing plant in China. More than 80,000 Tesla cars have been sold in China. Musk has always been sympathetic to the Chinese government and has even written a column in a magazine for the country’s internet censorship agency.
At the same time, Musk has again announced that he will take over the social media website Twitter. Twitter is also banned in China.