Never Say Never: The Coming Rapprochement of Taiwan and Elon Musk?

In my article “Influencing the Influencer: China and Elon Musk” for The Diplomat back in October 2022, I posited that American tech mogul Elon Musk and his SpaceX will not provide Starlink services in Taiwan. I based my prediction on Musk’s admission that, in his interactions with senior Chinese officials, “Beijing sought assurances that he would not sell Starlink in China.” Because the comment was made by Chinese officials, their definition of “China” must include Taiwan.

So far, that prediction has largely hold true. Starlink is still not officially available in Taiwan. Starlink blames the gap on Taiwanese regulatory requirements that satellite operators must be majority-owned by local interests or investors.

Starlink is available in pretty much all of East and Southeast Asia, with the notable exceptions of China and Myanmar. Even for Hong Kong, part of China’s territory, Starlink’s website does not publish any local service plans and prices.

Read more