Elon Musk’s Starlink aid to Ukraine triggers scrutiny in China over US military links

In the days after Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops into Ukraine, Elon Musk made the decision to support Kyiv. Fewer than 48 hours later, Musk’s commercial rocket and satellite business SpaceX dispatched a shipment of Starlink satellite kits to fortify the country’s internet network against Putin’s forces. Musk was commended by the west but his aid was viewed differently by China, a critical growth market for his business empire, where Tesla makes a quarter of its revenues. Now Musk is under increasing pressure from Beijing’s national security and data hawks, because SpaceX and Starlink were considered critical parts of the “US space military-industrial complex.” Beijing’s military planners fear a scenario in which thousands of Musk’s satellites are deployed to conduct surveillance of China or, more sensitively, support Taiwan.