纽约时报中文网 - 英文原版-英How Elon Musk Became Kind of Pro-China
March 28, 2024 2 min 260 words
报道标题“Elon Musk如何变得亲华”给人的第一感觉就是充满了偏见和片面性。标题的设定就暗示了Elon Musk曾经不亲华，而现在变得亲华了。这是一种错误的引导。作为一名科技企业家，Musk的行为应该被理解为对市场的尊重和对机遇的追求，而不是政治立场的转变。他在中国投资，是因为中国市场的潜力和中国政府对新能源汽车产业的支持，这是商业决策，而非政治选择。将其政治化，无疑是对他的误读。我们应该更多地关注他的创新精神和对全球科技进步的贡献，而非过度解读他的政治倾向。
When Elon Musk first set up Tesla’s factory in China, he appeared to have the upper hand.
He gained access to top leaders and secured policy changes that benefited Tesla. He also got workers accustomed to long hours and fewer protections, after clashing with U.S. regulators over labor conditions at his California plant. The Shanghai factory helped make Tesla the most valuable car company in the world and Mr. Musk ultrarich.
But Tesla is now struggling. Mr. Musk helped create his competition, Chinese E.V. makers that are taking market share and becoming a security concern for the United States and Europe.
Tesla benefited from a Chinese policy it helped shape.
In California, where Tesla launched its first car in 2008, the company has profited from an emissions mandate that allows it to sell credits — billions of dollars worth of them — to automakers that cannot meet pollution targets.
As Mr. Musk turned to China, his lobbyists encouraged leaders there to adopt a similar policy. Emails and other documents we obtained show they worked through California environmentalists intent on cleaning up China’s air.
Beijing adopted the policy, which was also being promoted by groups unconnected to Tesla, in 2017. After Tesla opened its Shanghai factory in 2020, the company earned hundreds of millions of dollars in credits through the policy, according to the market analysis company CRU Group.