The billionaire said one should consider the “two sides” of the Uyghur question. Or perhaps it is time to consider the two sides of Elon Musk.
by Kok Bayraq
Elon Musk stated on Twitter that there are two sides to China’s repression of the Uyghur. He did so as an excuse to bow to China. However, no matter what he says, genocide is genocide, and it only has one side. It is a crime against the laws of nature, human morality, and international law.
Interestingly, Elon Musk’s words have not expressed two sides of the Uyghur genocide but rather two sides of his own beliefs. He believes in being an “absolutist” when it comes to both free speech and selfishness, with the first being his dream and the second his reality.
While he expressed a desire for absolute free speech by not restricting the Russian state press, Elon Musk did not provide full Starlink service to Ukraine, the underdog in the war, when Ukrainians tried to attack a Russian warship. The benefits he hopes to gain from Russia, and especially from its ally China, would not allow for offering such help to Ukraine.
The USA provided $115 billion in aid to Ukraine. This is the American people’s tax money, meaning that, although indirectly, they are in this war with both their hearts and their money. The most important and unshakable measure of a fellow countryperson’s loyalty is expressed during wartime. There is no middle ground or two sides from which citizens can choose in a war in which their own country participates, directly or indirectly. There is only one side—that of their own country. Elon Musk did not stand with the United States on that stage, which was not only absolutely selfish but also treasonous.
It is not impossible to become a billionaire in this world, especially if you set aside law, morality, and truth. However, there are wealthy people who sacrifice all their wealth and even go to prison to avoid crossing this line. Four-time Nobel candidate, Rafto Prize laureate, and former millionaire Rebiya Kadeer is one of them. She was one of the seven richest people in China in the 1980s. If she had said that there were two sides to Uyghur repression, she might still be one of the seven richest people in China and perhaps of the world.
However, in 1997, when Wang Lechuan, the Chinese ruler of the Uyghur region, described the February 5 Ghulja Massacre as “suppressing terrorists,” Kadeer stated, “No, this is a genocide.” This speech at the Chinese National Political Council caused Kadeer to be removed from her seat in the National People’s Congress, and all her assets were confiscated. She was later sentenced to eight years in prison, ultimately spending six years there. As a continuation of the consequences of that single sentence—“It is a genocide”—she was exiled from her homeland, and 30 of her relatives were imprisoned because she continued preaching the truth while in exile.
There is no information about the lives or deaths of most of those relatives to date. She paid these prices knowingly and willingly because her soul did not have two sides. She knew that telling the truth would come with a price, and that “absolute freedom” has “absolute costs.” Today, she lives in a basement in Virginia, USA, yet she feels like she is living in a king’s palace. “I’m the #1 rich [person] in the world, not Elon Musk,” she stated, “because I did not deviate from morality. I did not cross the red line. I did not bow to the oppressor, and I set an example for our young generation to become rich with dignity.”
Among others who paid the price for telling the truth in the Uyghur case are former NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom, former professional footballer Mesut Özil, and Albanian professor Olsi Yazıcı.
The two sports stars left their fields following their public condemnation of the Uyghur genocide. Their clubs punished them by not renewing their contracts at CCP’s will to avoid losing club interests in China. Professor Yazıcı, who was invited to the propaganda “Xinjiang trip” with special greetings , gave up his highly esteemed guest position and left his job, saying to Chinese authorities, “This is not vocational training. It is torture.” Importantly, the university where he worked was fed, to a certain extent, by China.
Although Elon Musk is the richest man in the world in the financial sense, and there is no doubt that he will reach even higher positions in the future, spiritually, he is not rich. Even though he has so much money, he accepts flattery as a way of life. He is a disgrace for surrendering with a big gun in his hand. His signature of a pledge to enhance “core socialist values” is a flag of surrender—a sad and shameful monument to absolute selfishness. It is a surrender that leaves American values trampled under the feet of Chinese tyrants.
What does “core socialist value” mean? The interpretation is as follows: “Although we are economically free to a certain extent, we are not politically free, and you cannot [have] freedom in our country.” More precisely, “The dominance of our Party is more important to us than human rights, the existence of the Chinese people, and world peace, let alone your own state. If you as an American understand and accept this point, you can do business in China.”
Elon Musk signed this pledge knowingly. He openly and shamelessly stated that Twitter would indeed have to be careful about the words it uses regarding China because Tesla’s business could be threatened. This is the absolutely selfish side of Elon Musk, and under the impulse of this side, he suggested creating a special administrative zone for Taiwan and undermined the political will of 24 million Taiwanese. In turn, he devalued thousands of human rights’ fighters currently detained in China. He opened a Tesla showroom in Urumqi at the expense and tears of three million Uyghurs living in the camps.
Some of Elon Musk’s current wealth, especially wealth acquired from China, was at the expense of the blood and tears of the Uyghurs. In addition to China and its collaborators, Elon Musk has a hand in the Uyghur genocide. Therefore, in my opinion, Uyghurs are paying the price for Elon Musk’s two sides.
