Elon Musk Speaks on 'COVID-19 Origin in China'... Chinese Media Warns "Are You Kicking Away the Rice Bowl?"

Global Times: "Getting Closer to Right-Wing Conspiracy Theorists"
Tesla's Vehicle Production and Consumption Heavily Dependent on China

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, faced strong backlash from Chinese state media after posting a message about the 'origin of the COVID-19 virus' on his Twitter account.

On the 28th of last month (local time), the Chinese Communist Party's official newspaper People's Daily-affiliated 'Global Times' published an online column titled "Musk, Are You Breaking China's Rice Bowl Now?"

The column stated about Musk, "Although he did not directly mention China, he has recently been getting closer to right-wing conspiracy theorists," and claimed, "This is not the first time Musk has involved himself in the COVID-19 origin debate; he made similar claims several times in December last year."

Tesla heavily depends on China for both production and sales. China is Tesla's second-largest market after the United States, accounting for about 40% of Tesla's total sales. Tesla also has a large factory in Shanghai.

CEO Musk had posted a message on Twitter about the 'origin of COVID-19' the day before the column was published.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla / Photo by Yonhap News

On that day, a Twitter user posted, "Dr. Anthony Fauci, who led the U.S. response to COVID, funded the Wuhan laboratory in China. Does that mean Dr. Fauci financed the development of the coronavirus?" In response, Musk replied, "He did so through 'EcoHealth,' which Fauci was involved with."

EcoHealth is a New York-based nonprofit research organization that studies infectious diseases transmitted between humans and animals. Although Musk did not clearly state his position on the origin of the COVID-19 virus in this debate, he appeared to express some suspicion.

Meanwhile, the U.S. political sphere has recently been heatedly debating the cause of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Earlier, on the 26th of last month, according to the U.S. media outlet 'The Wall Street Journal' (WSJ), the U.S. Department of Energy submitted a report to key congressional figures suggesting the possibility that COVID-19 leaked from a laboratory at the Wuhan Institute, causing a cluster infection. Previously, the Department of Energy had leaned more toward the natural origin theory of the COVID-19 virus but has since changed its stance.

Four other intelligence agencies that conducted similar investigations concluded that the virus was naturally transmitted from animals to humans, and only the FBI and the Department of Energy supported the 'Wuhan lab origin' theory. However, the Department of Energy is a highly scientific agency within the U.S. and has deep cooperative relationships with domestic and international research facilities, giving its position significant influence.

However, the White House has taken a cautious stance on this controversy. John Kirby, White House National Security Council (NSC) Coordinator for Strategic Communications, stated at a press briefing, "Intelligence agencies and other government bodies are still looking into this matter (the study of COVID-19 origins)," adding, "There is no clear conclusion yet, so it is difficult to comment."