- Elon Musk and China’s top propagandist are fighting on Twitter.
- Hu Xijin, a Chinese commentator said Musk would be “taught a leson” because of his views about Ukraine.
- Musk retaliated against Hu with what appeared like a meme of an interpretation of a fake Confucius quotation.
Elon Musk, a billionaire, has been involved in a Twitter spat over the Ukraine war with China’s top propagandist Hu Xijin.
Hu, former editor-in-chiefGlobal Times, China’s state media outlet. He has been called China’s “troll King”. The GuardianMusk was called out by, in a Wednesday Twitter response to Musk’s Twitter pollFind out how to end war in Ukraine.
In the poll, Musk asked his followers to vote on whether his list of conditions — which included re-doing the sham referendums in the four Ukrainian regions annexed by Russia and ensuring Ukraine’s neutrality in the region — would work to bring an end to the conflict.
Hu responded to the poll with a scathing statement on Wednesday: “Elon Musk has released too much of his personality, and he believes too strongly in the West’s freedom of speech.” He will learn a lesson.
Musk fired back at Hu on Thursday with a phrase in Chinese that read: “手整体插在口袋里的人过分自信.”
Musk posted a Chinese phrase that did not seem to be coherent. It was translated as: “A man with all his hands in the pockets is overly confident.”
—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 6, 2022
Musk may not have meant the tweet. Some Twitter users suggested that the tweet might have been a Google translation of a meme involving innuendo-laden words fake Confucius quoteIt states that “man with his hand in pocket feel cocky throughout the day.”
China’s Weibo platform is Twitter-like in China. Users were not able to understand Musk’s post, but speculated that Musk meant for Hu. Powerless and inactive.
On Friday, Hu replied to Musk with a tweet saying: “Man with hands on Twitter feels confident.”
—Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@HuXijin_GT) October 7, 2022
Musk has sparred over Twitter with several people in the last week. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham.
In response to Musk’s proposed peace plan, Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, blasted Musk in a Tweet on Tuesday that stated: “Fuck off is my very diplomatic reply to you.” Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine Musk was also a target.Please see the posting His own poll that asked if people like a Musk who supports Russia or a Musk who supports Ukraine more.
Musk also had a heated Twitter exchange with the Kyiv Post. This Ukrainian media outlet called Musk out for his “pride & vanity.”
“Look, @elonmuskWe are, as we stated before, grateful for the Starlinks. We naturally disagree with your peace plan and make no secret of it — but we do invite you to give us an interview and explain why your stance is like that. We would love to hear from you. DM?” The outlet It tweeted on Thursday.
Musk said, “I am a huge fan of Ukraine but not of WW3.” ReturnedThe same day.
Insider asked Musk and Hu to comment, but they didn’t immediately respond.
